I used to live there, but that was
Before yesterday. Yesterday is so boring, don’t you think?
Even my black trench coat thinks so, & it’s very sophisticated,
Having once belonged to Dennis Hopper before I found it
On the used rack at Animal House. Ron the owner says, fingering
The shiny ink of the lapels, “Dennis Hopper.” “Cool,” I say.
So into the bright day I walk out like the night. “Face it,”
Toni says when she sees me later
At the sushi counter at Hama, “Dennis Hopper you’re not.” “OK,” I say—
“But the spicy tuna’s terrific today.” Which is why today
Is better than yesterday, don’t you think? I said that to myself, not
To Toni or Ron or anybody. I said to myself, Yesterday is still so boring;
When I used to live there it was boring & even before yesterday
It was boring—I mean, even before I knew it was boring,
Before yesterday—& if I still
Lived there I would probably think it was boring. But today…
Today, here with you standing right in front of me like
The body of a shadow or like a shadow naked as a body,
Like a woman dressed in a body naked
As a shadow, like a shadow undressing before a mirror, like yesterday,
Like a mirror with a shadow & a trench coat…. Well, here, today, as
We both undo the loose belts of
Our shadows, our trench coats, our bodies, here with you…
It’s really never boring. Not today, no, & not even before yesterday.