Summer Blossoms

Summer Blossoms

The sad skies of spring wept for 36 days,

life blood tears for the blooms of summer.

Shed of their winter garb and June’s gloom,

they sprout from the Manhattan sidewalk

all pale skin and pretty print dresses.

Beautiful “look at me” buds

on every corner fight for a flicker

of the sun’s attention. Their fragile

petals and long stems so eager

to be clipped, arranged, adorned

and loved on a dinning room table.

On every corner of the city, the scent

of new petals and flash of vibrant colors

distract the eye. Alas, the pursuit

of summer blossoms is a young man’s game,

but I do so like to watch and recall

my fertile days afield.

SMG

Layover

Layover

I met her in the lobby bar of a hotel

down by the airport in LA. It was

the kind of place you end up when

your choices are like a game of

“Would You Rather?”

An exchange of pleasantries evolved

into sad stories about business trips

and missed connections. She told me

she was getting a divorce and out here

looking for a new start. Why not? I thought,

sadness always looks better with a tan

and a good pair of sunglasses.

She told me she dreamed in pastels

which struck me as odd, because

she only spoke in primary colors

like pain and regret.

I asked her if she wanted to come

up to my room and she looked down

as if she had dropped something

under the bar. She mumbled something,
looked up and I could see the resignation
in her smile.

Murmured protestations often proceed

to surrender in dim resolve of night

as the alcohol and feel of another’s flesh
dull the ache.

“What did she say her name was?”

SMG

One Night in Singapore

One Night in Singapore

The humidity of the summer evening

glazed my face with sweat and it glistened,

with the setting sun. Tears formed on my beer,

they traced tiny lines down the cold bottle

and pooled on the bar. It reminded me

of the night; I spent with her, below

the Tropic of Cancer.

I can still remember the embrace

of the warm night air, the smell

of zhuójǐn wàndàilán orchids

and I can still see the girl, the one

that haunts me on the long nights

of winter. She gave me a look across

the crowded bar, as much a dare

as a come hither stare. Those gilt edged

brown eyes that pierced the room

like needle and silk through wounded flesh.

She was beautiful and kissed me

without saying hello; her lips a sweet

and decadent champagne that I drank

until intoxicated. Her skin was a playground,

fragrant and salty on my tongue. We tussled

in the sand for hours until she pinned me down

with a smile. The night was quiet and still

save for the breeze playing with her hair.

I could feel her flesh part and for the first time

I understood her vulnerability. She was both

courtesan and concubine and she gave herself

completely. I took her by the throat and loved her

until she surrendered with a shutter and a sigh.

SMG

A Different Tune

A Different Tune

I
   fell
          in
               love
with Jazz
intoxicating rhythm
without
rhyme or reason
                                        random
patterns
                  and
dangerous curves
I've always loved music
but Jaz
was the first music
that loved me back
her eyes
captivate
and penetrate
she plays
                    in my mind
and plays
                    with my emotions
caresses my ears
dances on my lips
and
        fucks me
                          like a Bangkok whore
she rips the heart
from my chest
and
        squeezes it
                             to her own
                                                 peculiar beat


SMG

Don't Tell Me Your Name

Don’t tell me your name

Don’t tell me your name;
I won’t remember it anyway
because I killed those brain cells
two or three bottles back.

Just call me Sunday morning regret
and scream whatever you want
in the darkness.

You told me that you left
your vanilla suit at the cleaners
but you won’t need it
on this bad boy escape.

All I want from you
can be had without words
and what you need
requires no long thoughtful gaze.

I want to give you stubble
burns on your thighs,
rolling back spasms
and make you question
everything your mother told you.

In return I’ll take
your nail track brands,
lipstick smudges
and your lingering guilt
home with me in the morning.

You can be a slut for a day
and I will wear my Mickey Rourke mask
until we wash off the night
and go back to our assigned seats.

Fleeting

Fleeting

The memories dissolve
like ice in warm whiskey;
the brush of her breath
whispering sweet lies;
a ghost in my ear.

She was brief, like midnight,
and when we kissed
I could taste Manhattan
at night; the darkness,
the crush and desire.

The sweep of the second-
hand across the clock face
without pause. A dream
unfinished; interrupted
by inevitable dawn.

SMG

At Last: Babylon

I told you I would write;
but morning after promises
rarely make it to sunset.

On a night before,
we wrestled in the sands
along the Euphrates
in an awkward exchange
of vodka nicotine kisses;
ebb and flow. You lied
and said I was your first
but Darius and Alexander
had left their marks
long before I tasted
your fetid waters.

Harlot that you were,
I loved you, even
as your gardens withered
and the sands began
to devour your beauty.
When I saw the writing
on your bedroom wall
I ran for the Tigris
afraid of the imminent
devastation of you--
of us.

I made for Lagash
without a backward glance.
With the thunder shake,
and screams in my ear,
I found my way to safety,
and the pure waters of home.

I know my missive is late
but I carried it by hand.
A promise kept,
if only to your memory
and the shifting sand.

SMG

Across the Night

Across the Night

I surrendered to my desires

and fell into a fitful sleep.

Lucid dirty blonde dreams

and tattoo fantasies ensued.

A night of cold sweat lust;

thoughts of the base and dark

spaces between you and I.

Could you feel my tongue

part your thighs as you slept?

Did my desire penetrate the night,

find you longing on the other side

and hold you on the brink

of torture, need and ecstasy?

I thought I heard you sigh

as I devoured the skin of your neck

and took you from behind

those hungry tanned eyes,

and handfuls of flaxen hair.

As the morning sun invaded

did you wake with a start;

spent, chest still heaving,

the chill of the dawn air

dancing on your skin

as wanton hands had done

in the unrepentant night?

SMG

72 Hours, 27 Cocktails, & 5 Women

72 Hours, 37 cocktails, 5 women

We finished fucking for the second time and I had to hurry and get dressed. My flight out of Minneapolis/St Paul was scheduled to depart at 6:50 PM and I didn’t want to miss it. As she was driving me to the airport Allison asked when I was coming back to Minnesota. I assured her that I would be back in a week or two and that I’d call her as soon as I had an exact return date. She pulled up to the Northwest terminal and I kissed her goodbye, grabbed my bag and headed for the gate. Once I got through the security check I found the nearest bar. I needed to get a bit of lubrication for my two and a half hour flight from Minneapolis to Dallas. The Hospitality Sales & Marketing Conference didn’t start until lunchtime on Saturday. I wanted to get a good night’s sleep so I left on Friday evening instead of taking the early Saturday morning flight.

By 10:30 PM Central Standard Time I was in the lobby bar and by 10:45 well into my second Johnny Walker.  I was watching the Mavericks beat the crap out of my Lakers when Dana, who I did not know was coming to the conference, appeared next to me. I hadn’t seen her since last year’s conference but three more cocktails, 20 minutes of small talk and we picked up right where we left off. I crept out of her room sometime after 2:30 AM, stumbled upstairs and passed out.

My usual morning run was cut short, by an overwhelming desire to purge Johnny Walker right in the middle of downtown Fort Worth, so I headed back to the hotel. I met Dana for coffee at 9:00. She looked like she was up for another tumble but I had plans. I made up a half assed excuse and headed back to Dallas/Fort Worth Airport in my embarrassing blue Ford Taurus rental car. The flight I was meeting was, fortunately, right on time, and within minutes Jennifer’s steel blue eyes were cutting thought the crowd.

We walked to the car and I was trying to figure out the logistics of having Jennifer and Dana in the same place at the same time.  As I opened the car door for her, Jennifer smiled and asked “so do you want to do in the car on the way, or are we going to wait till we get back to the hotel”.

“I…umm…well” My stuttering response was just what she was looking for. Jennifer loved to get me flustered and somehow always knew the best way to crack my faux cool façade.

When we got back to the hotel I carried her bags to her room.  Before I could put them down she was pushing me onto the bed.

“The conference starts in twenty minutes Jen”.

“Well then you better quite using your mouth to talk or we’re going to be late”.  

I am not sure what happened to my tie but I ended up having to go to the opening general session without one.

The general session lasted for two hours and then we were on our own until the reception. I took advantage of the time off and went up to my room for a quick nap. Everyone was scheduled to attend a reception before we shuttled to the Texas Rangers game that night.

At the reception I played a precarious game as I moved from Jennifer, to the bar to Dana and then back to Jennifer. Fortunately Sales people love to talk almost as much as we love to drink so I was able to keep getting them involved in conversations that gave me time to slip around the room. I had just gotten my third Black on the rocks and we were told it was time to board the busses. My momentary panic subsided when they said we were going by sales territory and all of the Regional Sales Directors were on a separate bus. Dana was on the Northeast bus, Jennifer was on the West Coast bus and I was on a bus with all my buddies and this new girl Theresa. I finished my Johnny and knocked back a couple of Lone Stars for good measure on the bus ride over to The Ball Park at Arlington.

Our group was in the VIP lounge that overlooks the outfield of the stadium but I really don’t remember the game. I was doing some serious juggling trying to keep Dana and Jen away from each other. I got pretty lucky because Jennifer was watching the game and Dana was bored and went back to the hotel early. I ended up spending a lot of time drinking at the bar with Theresa and some of my buddies. The bar didn’t have any good scotch so it turned into a Beer and tequila kind of night. By the time the game was over we were all pretty drunk. As Jennifer was getting on her bus she handed me a key to her room and said “hurry up!” The ride back to the hotel seemed to take forever, partly because we were out of beer and partly because I was trying to figure out how to deal with this Theresa situation, she was wasted but still wanted to party. As we pulled up the hotel she announced that she had more tequila in her room and I should come up and have a few shots before bed. I had told Jennifer that I was going to stop by the lobby bar for one more but I would be up right after. Time management has never been my best thing so I was a little shocked when I looked over the passed out, drunk, naked body of Theresa to see it was 3:30 AM.

When I tried my key in Jen’s door it did not work, so I knocked. I knew I was in deep shit when I saw the bottle of champagne still chilling on the table and four candles that had all burned out before I arrived. My apologies and excuses were quickly dismissed as she yelled at me about being thoughtless and wasting valuable time. “How could you be down there with that skank when you could have been up here fucking me?” I had to admit that she was right but she just told me to shut up. “Just drop it and go to sleep, oh and don’t even think you are getting anymore pussy from me this weekend shithead!” After an hour of me apologizing and groveling she finally relented and we had the angriest sex I have had in my life.

Day two of the conference was pretty non-descript, morning sessions, group lunch and a big “rah-rah” gathering before we all headed back to where we had come from. Theresa had driven down from Omaha so she bailed as soon as it was over. I gave her my number and told her I would be in town in about a month. I drove Jennifer to the airport and told her again how sorry I was. We made plans for a weekend in Hollywood later that summer and she said she just couldn’t stay mad at me. When I got back to the hotel there was a message from Dana, so I called her in her room. She was crying and said “I’m in a relationship and that should not have happened”. “He is a real nice guy and I did…” I had tuned her out by this point, but I gave her my best concerned but slightly hurt voice, “I’m just so drawn to you, but I understand that it can’t be” What a great line of Bullshit! I left a Hallmark card that I got for her at the airport with the desk staff. The note was “You are very special to me and I only want you to be happy.

By the time I boarded my three hour flight to LA, I was pretty tired. I ordered two scotches from the attendant, downed them quickly and passed out. My girlfriend, Cindy, was waiting for me at the gate at LAX and her face lit up as soon as she saw me. Her exuberance was infectious and I smiled right back at her. She asked if I wanted to go out for dinner and I told her I was just glad to be home and I wanted to go back to her place and crash. We made love and she told me that she was having a hard time dealing with me being gone so much. I told her that I was trying to get a transfer to a local property but there was nothing available right now. She sat next to me on the bed and we talked for a while as she rubbed my back. It was good to be back in California with a few days to rest before having to fly to St. Louis on Wednesday. 

SMG

Glisten

Glisten

There

is no beauty
in a sunset
or a birdsong
sung in the dim
mist of morning.
The only true beauty
I know is in the glisten
of a woman’s skin
in the moonlight
and silence
that follows
the fire.

SMG

Late Fees

Late Fees

I know you watch me,
over spectacle rims
near the bridge's end.

You shush me
over index cards
and collected late fees.

I want to tie you up
or hold you down
and scribble poems
on your breasts
in red fountain pen
and let your screams
echo through
the Dewey stacks.

We both know
pain and love
are partners
over time, overdue.

SMG

Tryst

Tryst

"I was hoping I would see you again…"
the words danced on my ear,
her breath and breasts warm against me,
"so I didn't wear panties".

Outwardly unaffected,
I leaned in to catch the fragrance
of her hair as it floated past my nose.
My lips pressed against her ear,
I made it known, I was pleased as well.

Her hand fell to my knee

and slid deliberately north.
“So it would seem”, she said
with a firm and knowing grasp.

The bar was crowded when I entered,

but as she slid her lithe frame
between the bar and my stool,
everything peripheral faded from focus.

“You ran away last time before I finished with you”

My explanations quickly rebuffed, she kissed me.
and my Bond like countenance began to crack.
“Now that wasn’t so hard was it?”
she giggled,  and came back for seconds.
She pulled me closer
positioning my hands on her waist.

I know there was loud music playing

but all I could hear was the sound of her voice as she said
“do you know how wet you’re making me?”
With a deft fluid motion, she slid my hand down
and back up under the hem of her skirt,
removing any thought
that she was prone to exaggeration.

I caught my breath, regained my composure,

looked past her coolly, and made it known
I was ready to close out my tab.

SMG

Killing Uriah

Temptation bathes under
the desert night sky
in a far off Jerusalem.

She is naked breast,
innocent eye, and I;
I am David’s lust
from the roof tops
of Manhattan.

Smeared lipstick desire,
black lace regret
as sweat and screams
eclipse the sunrise.

Come this day, this ache,
this disregard of consequence
and the distant wail of Uriah.

Shadows will descend,
and a penitent man will weep
in sackcloth and ashes
but not tonight: Tonight
I am her King.

Scars in the Afterglow

Scars in the Afterglow

Her skin still glistened, wet
with the remnants of ecstasy.
I, with the gentlest touch,
began to trace the scars
on her back with my fingers.
Slowly she drifted off
as I kissed her shoulder.
I savored the saltiness on my lips
and her scent filled my senses.
The motion of time gave way to stillness
as I continued to trace the scars.
She woke, and with a sad smile sighed,
“so that is how it’s supposed to be”.
She dressed quickly,
seductive red satin falling
delicately over the cicatrix maze
that was forever etched in my mind.

SMG

Prom Night

Prom Night

Fireflies flash
in the faded autumn light
and burst in auroras
on fogged car windows.

The desire within
is oblivious to the show,
mindful only
of the steering wheel
and the finish line.

The darkness waits,
patiently, until
the lovers are sated.
Soon enough
it will invade,
like the doubt
that comes with sunrise.

SMG