Vintage Lovers

You set out to impress a girl 
Hotel open to the public 
Wooden branches, heavy benches 
Wandering the candlelight 
You said you liked her sea blue eyes—
Why don’t you marry her 

I said I’ll see what I can do 

We are leaning on the rails 
Of a renovated staircase 
You said that she was running late 
Emulating vocal dances 
Enunciating clearly like a pilot on a plane 
Tucked inside a garrulous recording 
You could be a pilot all the same 

And then one day we’re lounging in the pub 
Huddled right between me and this luring apparition 
I was hungry all the same 
And then she said— 
Whiffing vestiges of velveteen upholstery 
Folding someone else’s gait into her arms
Dreamlike campy undertones—
I am in love. 

We watched her bidding farewell on the train 
I think that jealousy has gone to rage 
That captivating fervor, 
Coquettish smile melting into dusk’s caress
We wander down a sunlit street. 
Sipping our martinis in a more luxurious space 

I know how you love her but what might you think of me 
And then, sealing my eyes shut, 
Imagining her self-enacted throne, 
I could not remember the color of your eyes 
Nestled deep beneath your glasses and your scintillating gaze. 

And then I thought that I should run to you 
Playing with your undeserving heart 
I thought I should stage a feint  
Unbuttoning my shirt 
Throwing on a captivating giggle 
I would like to play her renovated likeness 
Laced up leather Chelseas clacking down the street 
I cannot amend my deep flirtatious ways 
It is solidified 
Silk white button-down 
Tantalizing skirt 
We talk of languages and families 
And then you asked me for a drink. 

I have counted all the moments
Wrapped in lemons, gins and tonics
Clearing glasses from the living room 
This is not another drunken bait  
You sat there on my chair 
A little boy dressed up in glasses 
Set out to impress a girl 

If I should forgive you— 

Circling a fountain 
Lit with rubble, red and scarlet 
Rooftop pools, a brick horizon
Fireworks eclipsed these lounge chairs
Just as scheming wrought your soul
You were always calling on the phone
And then I was unwell—
Twice, if you must know; 
We wander down a sunlit street
I called you up for comfort on the phone 
Anticipating steady trances 
Every day we stumble down this hole 

Where are all my sleeping pills 
The doctors said it was a stupid childish obsession 
Enacting vengeance on a blindspot, this debilitating aura
How can I sleep without you on the phone 
What can I do the moment you have fallen cold

Melting into the caress of dusk 
I hear your screams 
And then you started softly crying 
How are we to have known
You said—I will be with the girl with sea blue eyes 

You said it was to impress a girl 

I am circling the fountain 
Makeshift metal willow tree 
Weeping sultry undulations 
It is musty to the taste
I walk up to the ice cream truck 
Shuffling my keys 
And who’d have thought that crickets chorused in New York 
I am falling fast asleep 
You said you liked a girl in glasses and a buttoned shirt—