Do you remember when we first met?
I read your personal ad on The Onion
You said you enjoyed the works of John Bunyan
An uncommon thing in this age
Your interests include Cooking, Cinema
And Literature - that sounds nice
And normal
I saw you from a mile away outside the station
A mile,
And I realised you meant
Your interests include eating
And sitting still
For extended periods
We walked to a nice little coffee shop
And every so often you stopped
“for a breather”
To smoke Gauloises
Or use your “reliever” -
(Two puffs of Salbutamol)
And the sweet acrid smoke of each
Caught in my throat
You asked me about the Bible
I said I liked The King James
You said to read Hebrew
Or Wycliffe
You said they disinterred Wycliffe
And burned his bones
And cast the ash in the river
And that any man who inspires such passion
Is worth reading
Then you dialled up your insulin
And asked me about Hrabal
And stabbed the pen in your thigh
- God, what a thigh -
I stammered, wrong-footed
There were pigeons on the window-sill
And bread in my hand.
Do you remember? On the way back
It started to rain
And we took shelter
under the eaves of an antique shop
And you said :
“Are you going to kiss me
or wait for your balls to drop?”
and we waited.