Jan 1, 2003
Vaseline
A decade disappeared tonight:
I touched my lips with yours -
But two steps removed
Chilled and chapped, your fingers dipped
to my pot of blue and white Vaseline
- so clinical, so practical, so normal -
then, fingers to lips, I watched them smooth
the ridges I used to know.
Later, I reached for the same pot,
Felt the indentation
Where your fingernail had gouged the grease from the centre,
Knowing that same sensation,
still feeling indignation at the way your fingernails touched my skin,
gouged my heart,
even now a decade later.
I loaded my fingertips with clear grease
And touched my lips to yours,
two steps, ten years,
a lifetime removed.
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