April is National Poetry Month! Okay, last Matthew Van Der Boot inspired poem. I promise.
I’ll Stop the World and Melt with You (not that one by Modern English)
You look at her,
as napkins flutter from the ceiling
and bits of food fly at your face.
There are spots of ketchup
on her cheek and one above
her lip like a birthmark
that wasn’t there before.
That twisting in your chest
returns and you inhale,
remembering to breathe.
A bit of french-fry dangles near her ear.
You reach over to remove it just as
she raises her face to yours and
suddenly you are kissing.
Something heavy smashes
through the window in a
shower of glass and clatters
across the parking lot outside.
Now you hear the sirens,
see flashes of red and blue
along the side of her neck,
feel the brush of bodies
rushing past you,
smell the ketchup and
flowery spice of her skin,
taste the salty-sweet of her mouth.
Inspired by Van Der Boot 1983, Episode 59: “Don’t play stupid, stupids!”