Black and white
Midnight jesters dance
forward and back
in harlequinades that lay
everything on the board
betting the over/under,
on the clock, paid
but not by the hour
hoping to buy time
disarming kings
but drawing
their own
conclusions
souvenirs
crestfallen keepsakes
we shine indifferently
under a glaze, dull cheap
advertisements in spite
of the mistakes
we commemorate,
settled on shelves beneath
the promiscuous dust
that throws everything
under a respectable coat,
we aren’t quite so bright anymore
and can’t remember for what
we needed each other
except disappointment,
I think, I want, I have to hear you baby,
sing to me again like naked
wasn’t just a day trip
and new promised to forgive
everything, even the negligible cost
of vows that shined like trinkets
we couldn’t resist when we went there,
did that, got the mug.