24:26 The Facts

A Universal Story…
How to waste your life.
She likes to fool around.
I like to keep him humble
I don’t want him to change,
or charge more. That guilty smile.
She was too pretty.
You’ve got to have the right cast.
Birds. bees. You are familiar
with them, aren’t you?

23:26 Henry James

I really love the material.
Just before you became a star,
very impressive. Older, wiser.
Clear sighted, just for one moment.
Any idea what they’re talking about?
People who are out of season.
No acting required. Absorb it;
you know me very well–the depth,
the essence of our personalities.
The gift of the eye and the ear.
Watch and listen, and I will bring
me to you. Everything. With devotion.

22:26 But I fell…

Looking at you exhausts me,
everything cast properly,
the right person for the right part.
Curtsey and bended knee.
An error in judgement
mars your lips, your cheek.
The actual location of contact
gives the real feeling, ideal.
Smiles and bright colors
casting a glow, a blush,
without showing weakness.
When you’re in the room,
it feels even more empty.
I turn to look, and you’re gone.

21:23 ex officiō

By virtue of that office,
in the institute of love
I am symbolic, not actual or real.

The ex-lover is pariah at least,
an unfortunate social gaff in passing,
an unthinkable dilemma at parties.

You shouldn’t talk with me;
be seen with me, or remember me.
No, that would not be right.

I walk, in the recollection of your light,
your love with an infinite caresse
and a sublimated passion that never wains.

Would that you were but a memory
rather than a burning ember in my heart.
Would that you were a memory.

I see the future in the salon de provence,
Though there should be no recollection
of our passion or its passing.