WHEN HE HAD SAID.

A YOUNG WOMAN THINKS OF OLD AGE.

When he had said, after
Having made love for the
Third time the night before,

We shall grow old and end
Up lonely and well shafted,
It had caught Minnie’s breath,

And now drying after her bath
And thinking of the words again,
It makes her feel depressed to

Have that image brought to mind,
Especially after seeing the old
Woman in the café, sitting alone

With just a small coffee, wrapped
In an old faded shawl, smoking
A thin cigarette, and with what

Ever beauty she may have had,
Long since departed, and to think,
She says to herself, that could be

Me sitting in a café, alone, aged
And smelling of urine and death
And smoking and sipping a coffee.

She pauses. The towel is now
Suspended over her shoulders
Held with both hands. She can

Imagine him old and wearing
Old men’s clothes, stinking of
Piss and tobacco, and peering

At her through his thick lenses
Glasses, showing a wide toothless
Smile and still putting his hand

On her knee and saying, what
About coming home, my sweet
Minnie, to make love with me?