i remember staying up with you that heavy night <br />passing a bottle of raspberry wine back and forth <br />as we dragged ourselves thru a thick conversation <br />about prom night car crashes and brushes with death <br />you lazily took the last swig from the bottle <br />before you gazed out the window <br />i could have sworn you wanted to blame me <br />but instead you told me you were ready for bed <br />so i drunkenly hoisted you <br />out of your prisoner’s chair <br />and tossed you giggling onto the naked mattress <br />to lay down beside your ballerina's body and hold you <br />an injured bird trembling in my clumsy hands <br /> <br />we manufactured feelings <br />that had been lost somewhere between <br />the horizon and that hotel room <br />you told me sensation was merely <br />a new memory but you still knew <br />how to please a man <br />the candle’s glow flickered and bounced <br />around the room to the rhythm of our breaths <br />as you lamented that <br />you would dance like that flame <br />if you still had use of your legs<br /><br />Rev. Dr. A. Jacob Hassler<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/for-laura/
