Guppy Guppy
There are times when I reflect,
catch a glimpse of what has happened while I watched,
an inside observer outside, an outside observer within.
And what might have happened,
stopped this course of disaster with a breath?
How did it come to pass, your guppy mouth,
flat and lipless against my skin,
wet and flat against my lips?
Not unpleasant, but unexpected.
The next time, not unexpected, but quietly distressing.
It haunts me, not the event but the phrase,
hopped from nowhere (from somewhere) into my mind
it rattles around, pronounces itself in endless iterations.
It must be set onto paper. Guppy. Guppy mouth, tucked above your chin.
But will a canticle expunge you from my mind,
expunge you from my guilt?
There is discordance here, and ache,
two paths where neither is safe to tread,
heartache for you, und für mich.


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