Static

by Stephanie Kapinos

You bought the two-cent lies I was selling
Over paid by about a dollar a shot.
Created synthetic truth -
Fibers of fabrication woven into a security blanket
We both need.
You need to know I still love you,
I need to remember I don’t.
I let you touch me-
Everywhere.
Pretend to like it.
Small gasps of breath escaping-
Panic attack or climax?
You’d never notice the difference.

Your fingers graze me
My blood runs cold
Fluids dry.
I’m a prostitute doing charity work.
Just let my mind wander-
Only way I can get through it.
It’s like scanning stations on a radio
Filled with static
Frequencies that have become all too frequent.

Why do you insist on kissing me still?
My lips never react.
Close my eyes
Pretend you’re someone else.
No one specific
Just someone that isn’t you.

You think this is all about the body
Or perhaps the proverbial heart.
But my mind is dying to escape from your hands
To vomit obscenities at you.
It aches for Eliot and Frost
Yours doesn’t even know what a caesura is.

Look at the bored
Pawn beneath you;
This is a game of chess without kings.
Oblivious to what lies
On the sheet beside you,
Would you even know the score
If I found an orchestra to play it?

All material on this site is copyright of Stephanie Kapinos unless otherwise indicated. This includes, but is not limited to, poetry, fiction, nonfiction, criticism, reviews, and images. Distribution or copying of this material is strictly prohibited without written permission from the owner. © 2008