Pleasure From You
Written by Nicole Perkins
I was there at your childhood
Among the cocoa mugs and melting cheese in saucepans;
Watching you watching T.V. and eating grapes.
Funny how I always associate you with food
(And you’re a big girl now.)
But you left me alone to lie with other lovers,
And I crawl through the rooms where once you walked,
Sitting, foot to thigh, by the skirting board,
I listen to the creak of the old lady downstairs
And trail my finger in the dust that you never
quite got round to clearing up.