Nefertiti in the Nile
for D.B.A.

we open up any can of any shit
to savor it, to check it out, to examine it
she nor I turn off- turned off easily

screw on can opener, we turn and turn
until the top of can of that- of this- of the next
is free and floats atop whatever is inside

dog food, cat food
peaches, beets, mixed vegetable
whole kernel corn, artichokes, heart of palms

asparagus, whole pears or sliced
tuna fish, mackerel, pink or red salmon
Campbell soup or some other soup

then there are those things in jars
with covers to screw off
and with knife or spoon, dip in

how many covers or lids has she or have I
to undo, screw off, every time we meet
at every encounter

oh, when she herself removes her lid
like early this morning

runs water, gets into the bath
I as if in the bathroom, in the bathtub with her
having to- called to hear and see

God how I could feel her in the room
in her bath water, naked, without a stitch
wish I were the bar of soap between her legs

what between us- just the phone connecting us
with her from she got in until she got out
until she said goodbye

sighing each syllable, tender as can be
as harshly hitting hearts can be made to be
when love is thrown in, when love is added

God how we wrestle, argue, fuss, fight, make up
as complex- as much of a tangle
as weather in the tropics

windy, rainy, sunny, stormy, all in one afternoon
how deep in the night we often end up, she and I

not knowing where we left our lids
or how we got them off or where we threw them

volatile, she or I, or she and I
like caps of dynamite, will blow our top or tops
or snow might fall


© Obediah Michael Smith, 2010
2:22 p.m. 10.09.10