In order to allay her desperate mood,

He stood upon the stoop and watched the stars

And wondered where the moon would hide itself.

He knew, for instance, she was of a social class

That permitted not his kind, although she

Herself, did not know that.

She drank manners with breast-milk, and his

Were hard-contrived, and perfect, when he wanted them.

But most times he did not.

“She/he/it fucked X” was a construction he used a lot,

The fricatives pleasing and stabbing.

He could drink wine from a jug, and once

In the foulest temper he had, paid someone the homage he knew

And punched him till his ears bled.

Now, don’t think he was untutored – he knew instead that blood

And the drawing of blood, were what he could say to show how much

He knew the other boy could take. He kissed him hard short after, a loveless, lustless kiss

That pressed his lips against unyielding force.