A calculating sway

Full hips soft

In the reflections of skyscrapers

I lied, as I always did

For if I have entered his apartment

It was only in dream

And not the stuff of reality

My desire, the same--

Transcendental stuff

In the face of her earthy passion

A questioning glance

Green eyes wide

At the lingering hand near his neck

I asked, as I always did

Never mind that I knew the answer

She confessed

Her litany on the soft dew of his lips lost

To the litany on her aspiration: miscalculated,

She said sadly--

Misplaced

I shook my head

Refraining from what I knew so well

Perhaps I notice too much

In my quest to notice everything

A fleeting look to the left

Left me gasping

A fish out of water and element

I smiled, as I always did

As he glanced my way

Ignoring the creeping sensation

To allow a moment for

Slipping from reality to dream

To imagine a situation for such a lingering look

When one comes to my satisfaction

I look up in triumph

Only to find him glancing again

A tangible push to square one

A fragment of dream

Crept into real life like a delicate moth

Attracted to the fire it had lit

I frowned, as I always did

On those days when priceless beauty comes

At a harder price

Only then do I dare think the unthinkable

And come closer

My heart pounding with some new blood

Coming fast in the absence of its predecessor

Rapid successions, and I am lost

Where collarbone and neck meet

A stark darkness

Surrounded my quivering frame

New distractions—and not the thriller we watched

I followed, as I always did

Leaving no entrance for her to sit near him

There were questions in her eyes

As she sat farther back

But I had answered once, and truthfully—

Or so she believed

So for the moment they died

In the face of entertainment

And I instead kept my ground

We leaned on the armrest in turns

Never touching in our delicate dance

I cursed newfound coordination

A bright sunlight enveloped all

Casting shadows of verdigris

On the warm concrete

I left, as I always did

When darkness faded to light

Leaving no boundaries--

She was shameless

Her smiles brighter than in the gloom of past

And I kept my face down

Stunned at this new defeat in a new element

I wondered to catch her eyes

And stop her tyranny

But she stared only at him

Premeditated affections

Rehearsed in their common nature--

We followed each other's example