In & Out

Knockoff cologne lingers like a tactless
houseguest as twelve hundred
bedbugs make due with
what they've got.

Boxed chocolates line the bunker walls,
As fair Juliet badmouths her letterman prince.
"Their song" plays over the FM static
as he mounts his scrap metal bicycle.

Eyes like flooded pools of wax
peer past her bedroom window
to glimpse his tomcat getaway.
She wipes her runny nose with the
back of her clammy hand,
breathlessly murmuring
"And I liked him."

The tires strike the pavement, producing a pleasant
sound as the night air shares its secret.
He assures himself,
"She loves me."