The Second Coming of J. Alfred Prufrock (To Love More Competently)
I snapped a picture of you the other day when you weren’t looking
capturing the entirety of your face
as you lay oblivious and a victim
incarcerating the elegant flare of
your cheekbones
which kind of remind me of the
wings of wild geese as they
perk up against the clouds
hugging a sky that is way too similar
to your eyes bestowing the image of
swimming too far down and letting
your lungs fill with dark blue resonance
I wish to drown there
I could hear your heartbeat and I still said nothing.
Your face is cropped like the image on my
phone
fair skin aligned with black borders
I think you looked back once and the flash
of laughter pooled over your features like the
blood of babies scorching the streets of
Ireland in red glory
You know, you should smile more often
not for my satisfaction but you’re far
too pretty to look so perpetually constipated
A single, indirect smile
nearly made me
strike the board and cry
Look me in the face once and I promise
I’ll leave you alone
I stared at you and I thought about
how we pass through life with more
words neatly tucked under our lips
than released in the atmosphere
I wonder if in another millenia
when you and I are both dust, I’ll say
those words into the wind as somebody
bestowing a different form
I’ll meet you in another imperceptible future
where we won’t remember this moment
of unspoken shyness and polite classroom customs
if I have the option to remember I will
and I’ll come looking for you.
