the only thing you gave me

Medical records, missed appointments
Your number again and again
In my now defunct caller ID
A nightmare in broad daylight

I wanted art and parties
Maybe a little adventure and some wilderness
I got shopping malls and midnight madness
Winter sales instead

As I walked away you sported
Your wounded beast crouch, it was fantastic
Typing frantic fragile emoticons
At the speed of snail

A very slow snail
A beastly crouch
The clumsy typing
The holy frontier of your visible panty line

T'was pretty basic stuff: bouncy castle, shoulder x-ray
My right arm on a sling
Almost ready for the next fling
Could have been madness or just the brink

Alas, a sad end for a sad era
And when I think about it
At the end of the day
Herpes
Was the only thing you gave me


sabo olofsson (Boston, MA, 1986)