a cold eye

THE NEW LOVE POEM






The new love poem
is known for its honesty.
The new love poem says
I don't love you.

The new love poem
remembers the old love poem
in which a woman's body
was compared to the entire world.
The new love poem tries not to feel
superior to the old love poem.

The new love poem can live
on a steady diet
of bitter fruit. The new love poem
thinks sweets
are for children.

When the new love poem sleeps,
it dreams
of getting old,
of shriveling to a chrysalis,
of something with wings
and color so loud it talks
emerging
to thrill someone who doesn't know any better
and who doesn't want to.




                            Philip Dacey














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