Worth the Wait?

Outside
cars pass
on the wet street
with a sound like
bacon frying.

"You deserve better."

The men
sit on the porch,
rustling their brown bags
and speaking in
cornbread mouthfuls
of words.

"Did it scare you?"

The teakettle
steams and hisses
and chortles away
the water in its
rust-covered bottom.

"How could anyone ever take you for granted?"

The refrigerator hums
its chirping tune
to a moldy package
of cheese.

"I would die for you."

A cigarette tap-tapping
on the metal ashtray
calls the meeting
to order.
The ash falls.

"I will never leave you."

The phone
shrieks and screams
its silence
across the room.

"I promise."

—11/26/01


• This is not one of my favorites, and, honestly, I don't know what angst-ridden scenario led to this, but I do like some of the imagery. This began from noticing how the sound of the car tires outside of my apartment sounded exactly like bacon sizzling.