Something about...

It was something about the cringe implicit
in the split skin smile     the bolted shoulders
the courage curled in his fist.
It was something about the glitterball torment
the tacky glasses     the sweat     the heat.
It was something about heavy metal
thumping 'til somehow
the only colours were Camus and mauve.
It was something about wet pink promises
dried to smeary disappointment
hairs stuck one upon the other
like sticky strips of acceptance.
It was something about her:
belly and breast in the steel
of a stranger’s arms
slivers of later olympic with drink rings.
It was something about the night:
its ill sewn skin seamed and puckered
the moon a pale stigma in a sky
fleshed with an infinity of winter.
It was something about how the thin edges
of his words hit     and how
when you took your fingers away
they dripped red for hours.
It was something about too much space.
It was something about the way
his footsteps sounded so old
going down the stairs.


Jan Napier (WA)

First published in Poetry d'Amour 2014 (WA Poets Inc)