In & Out Our Lives
for Alexander Rizenko‎‎

i.
I drink her with my eyes
drink her right down

I empty the glass she’s in
I quench my thirst

descends the stairs
befriends the stairs

like Duchamp’s nude

ii.
she complains when I’m with her
at how I’d look at who’d pass by

about the women I’d observe
habit I’d have formed when alone
which is usually

with me one day or one evening
for one little while

and I must act
as if she were available to me
with me always

as if I had her to rely upon
or will have

when she is but in and out
and will in no time be gone

habit established to rely upon
to sustain me

resented, resent it, objects to it

to what is there for me
is air to me, near to me

when she isn’t, when she is not


© Obediah Michael Smith, 2009
3:15 p.m. 10.12.09