LONELY
HEART-BREAK MOTEL
Feeling of midnight loneliness;
The springs next door,
Wincing from the couple's weight.
The empty thought of emptiness
Weighed heavy in my mind...
Down below the music breaks,
Down below the breasts heave,
Down below the mounds rise and
Fall, distant togetherness.
One pyjama leg rolled,
I Rolled down below; a finger
Flick and like Zeus
'
Before
I was falling. I smelt her
Rancid liquor breath as
She loved me for the night.
With mastery she undid
My innocence, the one
I
Gasping for more as
My Purse lay empty
Beneath my table-lamp.
"More hours and sleep
Took its share of me. I
See the finger flick,
I remembered my purse, my
Unsure breakfast. She sped
Up the stairs from down below.
I closed my door, kept her
Out. I needed myself;
I Preferred the empty quietness.
Even the couple next door
Are worn, for I hear no more
The straining springs."
I awake to hear
The noises after each
Wee silence. Constantly the
Different loads make different
Sounds. Dirty bitch. But maybe
She has
I hurry back to sleep,
Praying for morning light
To speed me out for I
Was just a passer-by.
Nana Grey-Johnson
(Ndaanan, Vol. 5, Issue 1&2, March/September, 1976, p. 26)