So eager
to divest ourselves
of our outer garments
(you down now to your smalls
me to my nothing at alls)
we can’t recall
how any or all
of our underwear
came to be
here and there or there & here
the bell buzzing
us into panic
mother-in-law visiting
to see how we are coping
casting a critical eye
on our new abode
and to our amazed delight
winning her zeal of approval.
“You’ve made it a home! ”
she pronounces in a silk purse from a sow’s ear tone.
All goes well until
being gentlemanly
I go to give her
money for her taxi fare
pull out
wallet
&
your cream coloured crumpled panties
(hastily stuffed into pocket in panic)
spills at her horrified feet
sexily lingering over the tips of her toes
still attempting
to be civil
(she looks at me as if I were the Devil)
& simply ignoring what’s happening
kicks them aside as if they hadn’t ever existed
they land
on the cat
who runs ‘round the flat
panties on his back
she leaves
in a huff
without another word
the door
slamming behind her
as we flower
into helpless laughter.
Dónall Dempsey
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/cream-coloured-panties/