her house is like all her houses

stacked boxes stuffed

with treasure and tulle

sparkling, overflowing

shelves full of

paperwork and good snacks

mostly well-labelled

the smell of good cooking

and pots soaking

slightly too long

on a hot afternoon

I’m so well catered

I don’t care

the white noise

of aircon

and water in

green glass, covered in cartoons

her teeth beautiful

even

lip like a falcon

is that

good breeding

and stockinged feet

are always acceptable

here

am I too keen

a mismatched cactus, pyjama queen

wanting more, more

a scene

half forgotten

play it cool

knowing this can turn

sultry, salty, mean

the swoop

of her Egyptian eye

laser, sharpened

shimmerfear

hair’s breadth moment, us

and… still

breathe

we orbit her

dancing, ducking, bowing and

studded about

like cushions, like cats, like acolytes

adoring

pleased

to be seen

 

Photo by zixuan Fu on Unsplash