I will be the name you pass around the house on your good china.
I will be the clap before the lights go off.
I’ll have assistants.
I’ll say to them, “What’s the update on the 41C?”
I will have codes like “41C.”
I will take baths and dry off with wads of cash.
I will have sex and then more sex.
I’ll order food with confidence.
I’ll never be behind bars again.
I will run up the stairs then down the stairs
then down the stairs.
I will make it to this hotel room, where
I know where she is.
I want to show her my new body.
I want her to know that it’s me,
that it’s really been me,
after all this time.
She’ll know.
She’ll know right away.
I sneak my way into the lobby.
I ask the right questions.
I feel giddy in my new skin.
I stretch it just for good measure.
I get a key card.
I knock on the door.
I slip the key in with pleasure.
I say, “Surprise! It is me.”
But the room is empty.
Where is she?