Immediacy of the Kiss

(OR Immediacy of the Kiss and Penelope’s Reflections on How It Can Make You Do Things You Know You’ll Probably Regret Later)

Limping Odysseus
Your murders are forgotten
I’ll rush to your side
Your murders are forgotten for now

After years of fighting, running
Nothing, nothing left to fend off
Shed your ramparts with your tunic
Nothing, nothing left to defend

But do it soon, and very soon
Come tomorrow, I may remember
Calypso and Circe
Come tomorrow, I may remember their names

Don’t give me time to think
The blood on your hands
The men who died for you and from you
Their blood on your hands on my hands

Let those things slide away
In this instant, only your breath
No hero’s song, no fanfare
In this instant, only your breath and mine

But do it soon, and very soon
Come tomorrow, I may remember
The punishment of the hours
Come tomorrow, I may remember their names

I’ve had a decade of waiting
Maybe later I’ll hold you
For the sneers of my beaux
Maybe later I’ll hold you responsible

Perhaps tomorrow, but for now
Tomorrow’s farther off
The laws of proximity insist
Tomorrow’s farther off than this kiss