***

Dear poets, you don't know how
Love must be written about
Love to skew my eyes.
Speak to me frankly, please.
Speak frankly to me.
do you imagine porn? erotica?
Pimps write to you, but you answer them in verse.

She told me I couldn't breathe in his presence.
Do you want to tell us about sunsets?
about sunrises?
She couldn't breathe when he was around.
I saw this boy.
He had the right features and a nice smile.
She said I couldn't breathe when I saw him.

Who needs your wilted sunsets?
Are you insinuating? Insinuate that you've been out naked.
dancing under the moon and couldn't even breathe in his presence.
because she could not breathe when he was around.

You want to tell us about the rowan trees?
She said I can't even breathe when he's around.
And she was a girl of colorful beauty.
and he wasn't even a match for her in any way.
but she couldn't breathe.
She just said that in conversation.
and she wasn't looking for rhymes.

She said I can't breathe if he's around.
Do you still want to tell us about love?
You know what it is.
Don't try to make it up.
because that girl could not breathe when he was around.
You wouldn't have to make anything up.
But you're not her, and that girl didn't write poetry.
She told me I couldn't breathe when he was around.
Think about that, you careful compiler of phrases,
when you're describing a chemical reaction through landscapes.