You

flicker

in an

instant

and warm

my face

my soul.

and I

am happy

for a

moment

thrust into

amour’s rosy

hold.

Then you

dart

behind

the drooping leaves

of a banana tree

where I

can’t see

and I am

lost.

And in

an instant

I hate you.

I hate you

loving me

lulling me with your

luminosity,

turning me

into the insect

and yourself into

the death-fire

that draws

me

in

and burns

me just

beneath

the breast

and settling in my stomach

like starlit butterflies

and warming

memory’s cold storage

and stinging my fingertips with your passion….

I hate you for

deceitful ways,

tricking me to thinking

you will stay,

hoping and believing

your fire

fly,

will bring me home.

But you don’t

and I hate you,

You

tiny jack-o-lantern fooling me,

You

dreadlocked will-o-the-wisp

skanking underneath banana tree,

I hate you,

I hate you,

I hate…

You  there!

flickering again

and warming

my face and soul

and wrapping me in amour’s hold

and dancing and drawing me in,

into your world and..

and…

and…

shit.

©2002 Debra Providence