The Tyranny of Coupledom

Margaret Lindsay Holton
From:   On top of Mount Nemo. 2002.

They enter
and instantly
assess
their prey ...

I stand quietly
alone
and see
them coming

'Hi! How are you?'
she opens cheerfully
as his eyes scan
my body slowly

'Fine. And you?' I reply
she babbles at me - eye to eye
then she allows me a brief
glance at him

she looks at him
I look at him
he looks at her
then he looks at me

in his beady-eyed stare
can be seen
Renaissance Boredom, Catholic Contempt
and endless Primal Hunger

he smiles wide and white
and puts his big fat hand
firm and sweaty onto the petite hollow
of her pretty pink back

'It's good to see you!'
he bellows
as his tiny pin-prick eyes flit fast
to the next object of Desire

...

Later, I see them leave
hunched together
in a whisper of conspiracy
sharing superiority

and I think to myself
... there is not a one, not one Hero
there are no heroes here
not one amongst them all

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Margaret Lindsay Holton's works copyright © to the author.