Obsession
by McCutcheon
Obsession is not Kate Moss on the side of a bus
as I walk up Amsterdam Ave.
on a NYC day over 100 degrees
I’m up past the church and school
too far north for my own safety
but there is no danger
you just have to always watch yourself
which I don’t
I think of you Sabine
us together in the café kissing
that cold rainy Paris day
how my French and your English
didn’t help the conversation
but our body language was right for the moment
and I hardly knew you
you in your capital to do your painting
me trying to study film
I think of you Sabine
the day we meet under the awning
the party when we escaped into the tub with no water
the kisses so intimate
and how you smoked cigarettes when I would go down on you
I think of you Sabine
when I close my eyes it helps
not just lids over eyeballs
but when I scrunch my face up tight
trying to make the nothing blacker
that’s when you come into focus
Tu me manque
Sabine
I buy a bottle of water from a pretzel vendor
he doesn’t try to rip me off
there are no tourists up here
as I walk up Amsterdam Ave.
on a NYC day over 100 degrees
I’m up past the church and school
too far north for my own safety
but there is no danger
you just have to always watch yourself
which I don’t
I think of you Sabine
us together in the café kissing
that cold rainy Paris day
how my French and your English
didn’t help the conversation
but our body language was right for the moment
and I hardly knew you
you in your capital to do your painting
me trying to study film
I think of you Sabine
the day we meet under the awning
the party when we escaped into the tub with no water
the kisses so intimate
and how you smoked cigarettes when I would go down on you
I think of you Sabine
when I close my eyes it helps
not just lids over eyeballs
but when I scrunch my face up tight
trying to make the nothing blacker
that’s when you come into focus
Tu me manque
Sabine
I buy a bottle of water from a pretzel vendor
he doesn’t try to rip me off
there are no tourists up here