LAY AND LEARN

on the first day of january gloves are
removed and keys are fumbled with, dropped
in the snow by warm hands, in a hurry

and there is glitter left from the party
stuck in the cracks and sharp ridges of
shoulders, noticed on the drive home as

he changes the radio station, as she
presses her warm sweaty forehead against
the cool glass of the passenger window

once inside the plaid scarves disappear and
so do the long wool coats, a tie and shirt,
her dress and her sparkling diamond tiara;

meanwhile the belt buckle has slid off
silkily and black tights are already wrapped
around the feet of a peach love seat.

then, it happens, the scene of an early love and
the making of it, while white confetti falls light
and christmas decorations clutter the basement.

i wonder how many virgos were made this drunken way
in january, when the all the toys have had their
use and the new year brings new dramas to play?

wonder if later on i will sit around a fireplace
and wait for the children and grandchildren to
visit, wait for stains of brown tire tracks

and wonder if he or she will ever know that it was
something unexpected

wonder if he or she will know and take
comfort in the fact that

all love of someone else is
infidelity to ourselves:

that we are all bastard children

we were all such sad boring mistakes