Shiny record albums scattered over <br />the living room floor, reflecting light <br />from the lamp, sharp reflections that hurt <br />my eyes as I watch you, squatting among the platters, <br />the beer foam making mustaches on your lips. <br /> <br />And, too, <br />the shadows on your cheeks from your long lashes <br />fascinate me--almost as much as the dimples <br />in your cheeks, your arms and your legs. <br /> <br />You <br />hum along with Mathis--how you love Mathis! <br />with his burnished hair and quicksilver voice that dances <br />among the stars and whirls through canyons <br />like windblown snow, sometimes I think that Mathis <br />could take you from me if you could be complete <br />without me. I glance at my watch. It is now time. <br /> <br />You rise, <br />silently, and to the bedroom and the paint; <br />on the lips red, on the eyes black, <br />and I lean in the doorway and smoke, and see you <br />grow old before my eyes, and smoke, why do you <br />chatter while you dress? and smile when you grab <br />your large leather purse? don't you know that when you leave me <br />I walk to the window and watch you? and light <br />a reefer as I watch you? and I die as I watch you <br />disappear in the dark streets <br />to whistle and smile at the johns <br /> <br /> <br />Submitted by Hen<br /><br />Etheridge Knight<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/as-you-leave-me/
