i remember staying up with you that heavy night
passing a bottle of raspberry wine back and forth
as we dragged ourselves thru a thick conversation
about prom night car crashes and brushes with death
you lazily took the last swig from the bottle
before you gazed out the window
i could have sworn you wanted to blame me
but instead you told me you were ready for bed
so i drunkenly hoisted you
out of your prisoner’s chair
and tossed you giggling onto the naked mattress
to lay down beside your ballerina's body and hold you
an injured bird trembling in my clumsy hands

we manufactured feelings
that had been lost somewhere between
the horizon and that hotel room
you told me sensation was merely
a new memory but you still knew
how to please a man
the candle’s glow flickered and bounced
around the room to the rhythm of our breaths
as you lamented that
you would dance like that flame
if you still had use of your legs

Rev. Dr. A. Jacob Hassler

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/for-laura/