Can we even hope to be moral in this?
   There is no high ground here
   In the sneaking 
   And the whispering even when we are alone.
   We have to face that they won
   That we gave in too soon
   Too easily.
   We played a game not worth playing 
   Instead of taking the road to ending 
   The travesty perpetrated against us
   We became them
   There is no kindness here
   This should have been a journey 
   A trip into something special
   As we tripped and fell 
   Into love
   I looked for and found
   Soothing in your arms
   I used and consumed
   As I let you do the same 
   But to what end?
   And now it must end?
   Because for all its potential 
   This thing we are doing 
   Has polluted what we could have permitted into being
   Finding peace in each other
   I’m not going to say it to you
   I won’t tear you asunder so heartlessly
   Like he would
   Like he did
   I won’t say I’m sorry either
   Being better having known you
   And been known by you
   To have a friend who adored me so well
   But we have reached our zenith
   Our parting
   I wish you well
   As I unravel you from my being 
   And unravel her form my living
   But I know this is an ending
   A tragedy really
   Good luck unwinding
   And know that you will be missed
   Now taking a lover.
   Seeking eligible male for sexual rendezvous only. 
   Woman in need of a lover
   Please forward photo and current certified STI/STD panel to:
   1-268-722-????
   Serious inquires only
   James
   The Agreement
   I hereby agree not to love you
   No deep feelings 
   No thoughts of something more
   No “L” word
   I hereby agree not to love you
   To be gone by morning
   To not let our lips touch
   To not gaze too long
   Or too longingly
   I hereby agree not to love you
   Not to wait for your hellos
   Not to say long goodbyes
   Not to miss you
   Ever
   I hereby agree not to love
   To keep my satisfaction physical
   And limit my interest
   To below the belt matters
   Between the sheets matters
   Between my legs matters
   And to all associated matters 
   In the interest of the reciprocity of pleasure
   I hereby agree not to love you
   A courtesan’s wager
   A venture into empty intimate 
   A foray into sweat and heat and moaning
   That ends in soap and steam 
   When I wash you off me
   I hereby agree not to love
   Not to incite conversational journeys
   Into the plane our personal
   No detours into any alley
   Leading from this casual interaction
   I hereby agree not to love you
   Not to seek to own
   Or be owned
   Or be chosen
   Not to be things characteristic of love 
   Catching Feelings
   Hard to notice how you snuck in
   How your greetings had me smiling
   How your absence called for longing
   How comfortable was only that with you
   Hard to notice when you snuck in
   With feel goods in the early morning
   And I caught myself waiting
   For our little check ins
   Just calling to see how I would do
   Hard to notice when you snuck in
   When midday sneaking
   Turned to lunch and dinner meetings
   Long talking and sweet reminiscing
   Getting lost in the me and you
   Hard to notice when you snuck in
   When your fingers grazed my cheek
   And your lips lingered softly
   And passion began to burn deeper,
   In somewhere other than our loins
   Hard to notice when you snuck in
   And took me into you
   And similarly made a place for yourself
   Somewhere I cannot give name
   And make this real
   Because you snuck in when I wasn’t looking for love.
   Broken
   Why would you want me?
   This mangled me,
   This unrecognizable farce 
   Of the woman I wanted to be
   Why would you want to take on
   All this damaged?
   Insecure and reclusive
   A façade of a person
   A malady made flesh
   Ironic though maybe
   That you should be the one to make me see him
   My Him
   My broken reflection 
   In the masculine
   Shattered and scared 
   We fit in with all our jangle pieces
   Don’t we?
   Being the same shade of functionally defective
   But know I never meant to hurt you
   I never had a taste for immaculate
   Being so far removed from it
   And finally accepting of it
   And I will not demolish you 
   Like I did him
   Here lies an epitaph to us
   This is my divergence
   From the illusion of being someone you could own.
   How it Ends
   Now seeking love.
   Driven Women seeks fulfillment
   No games
   Just call:
   1-268-722-????
   Serious inquires only
   Him
   Familiar
   Touch me there
   You know where
   Just there
   Right there
   Yeah just like that
   Kiss me
   Like you mean it
   Capture my lips and enforce yourself upon me
   Make me yours
   Make me feel like you want me
   Like that
   I know that fire in your eyes
   That light that burns
   Intensifies as the act ensues
   I know it well
   Like a long lost friend
   Glad to see it coming back
   Yes just like that
   That rhythm
   That driving force
   That relentless building
   That catch and release
   Until you’re ready
   But you won’t be ready just yet
   This is settle in for the long ride
   I would be satisfied to never be free of this moment
   Torture me with your knowing
   Mmmm like that
   Just like that
   Administer that playful smack
   Twist that hip just so
   And hit that spot just so
   Just like that
   Like that
   Right there
   Just there
   Where I and you meld
   And dissolve thought in the release
   Yeah like that, just like that
   So She Said…
   “Baby” she sighed,
   “There’s a burden I got to make known
   I want you to hear my side,
   But before I do, let’s set the tone by laying pride aside”
   She started,
   “Baby there is you, but for a time there was him,
   I won’t insult your intelligence 
   And say he wa
s nothing, he was something.
   But what he was is not you, me and him, 
   We were never us”
   She continued saying
   “It started out as nothing, really nothing. 
   We were companions of an intellectual sort
   We took joy in idle conversation, 
   That became the heavy precipitation,
   Of deeper meditation, 
   Rising from the mutualism of loneliness.”
   Eyes downcast she carried on saying.
   “He found comfort in the simplicity of our interaction,
   It was belly laughs and 
   Easy smiles that bought us two closer
   We supplied a mutual shoulder,
   To share the weight of our enigma, you and her….”’
   Pause…she squared her shoulders,
   And continued spinning her tale.
   “In the space between breaths we made the transition,
   From damp shoulders to warm arms,
   Replaced by soft lips flavored with the common need 
   For an absentee lover
   He searched for her in the curve of my body and I 
   Looked for you in the warmth of his smile,
   But baby I’m soo sorry”
   Words and tears tumbled freely… she related her reason.
   “Baby I don’t mean to call you selfish,
   But while you built your ego a citadel against me,
   With the security of my fidelity a foundation 
   Under the brick and mortar of their affectionate praise
   You expected me to lay waiting,
   For you to deem me worthy of your time,
   He wasn’t looking for a return on some investment, 
   He found something in the possession of me”
   And in his mind he’s thinking
   How could she misinterpret so blatantly
   Misunderstood so simply 
   That he carried her with him,
   Made space in a place too scared to name,
   More intimate than his heart
   More passionate than his spirit
   More epic than his pride…He took her with him
   He lived and breathed her,
   Ate her, loved and dreamed her.
   He was a slave to this empress
   A point it seemed that had failed to impress
   And for all of this, she looked at him expecting reprieve
   Because she said sorry.
   The Conversation
   Then he said:
   “Baby I know I have a funny way of showing it,
   I know it might not always be clear,
   But babe I love you, 
   Loved you from the moment you spoke to me 
   That first time
   I could feel it, the way our material intertwined”
   So she said:
   “Baby I never meant to hurt you 
   Even though you stripped me bare.
   I wanted to impale you on the spike of your own infidelity 
   And leave you for dead.
   Baby you hurt, me.
   I knew it when I missed you sitting right beside me.
   But in my redress I only hurt more than I healed
   It’s time to let me go”
   Then he said:
   “I’m the sum of my flaws and I admit that freely
   But you belong to me
   Whether or not you choose to believe me
   I’m yours…I belong to you
   I covet you the way a rich man loves his money
   You are mine”
   So She said:
   “I shouldn’t be afraid of you,
   I shouldn’t fear your absence, or dread your coming
   I shouldn’t hate that I love you
   Or resent my own faithfulness.
   Baby you know I love you”
   They said together:
   “Is that enough?
   Where do we go from here?”
   Then he said:
   “I’ll be your pillar if you let me,
   Flaws and all I’ll try”
   So she said:
   “I’ll be your comfort if you let me,
   Fear and all I’ll try”
   To read more from Michelle Toussaint visit,
   deathbyexpectations.wordpress.com
   whatthehellisreal.wordpress.com
   
 
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