electrons zap greetings, exchanges;

new zaps follow silence, until:

meet in steak’s house, jack-o’-lanterns near.

opera’s next, but i know it can’t last;

not a relationship man;

never been one—didn’t know how.

‘moving away,’ they tell me, ‘far away’;

‘where am i going to poke,’ she asks;

‘somewhere beautiful, sunny and sandy.’

she goes, leaving me humid and dreadful;

no go for me, thunder rolls;

classes on ardor, i learn slowly.

year plus-plus passes, ears pop often;

eating headsets like candy;

soreness of distance and pretzel rest.

heart quickens when i say ‘wah i nee’ ;

‘wah she-ong nee’ we cry, ‘wah she-ong nee’ ;

story’s unfinished, beginnings await.