The other one.

My touch caught her off guard at first
as I embraced her hello.
I thought perhaps she was shy
and unaccustomed to my willingness
to break bread with strangers.

She held me cautiously then,
ensuring it was brief
and the surface area she touched
was minimal.
Her fingertips recoiled backwards
in an attempt to retract her arms.

She grazed against me carefully,
and looked at me like I was dirt.

I spent our time together
quietly embarassed
unsure of what to think,
or where to go,
or if I was imagining things.
Fidgeting often
in an attempt to regain my composure.

Pretending I wasn't leverage
for the girl you wanted.

From the beginning, when we
hit the road
I was curious as to
where it would take us
I should have just enjoyed the drive.

Soft decay

“Always learn poems by heart. They have to become the marrow in your bones. Like fluoride in the water, they'll make your soul impervious to the world's soft decay.”

― Janet Fitch, White Oleander