Taboooo

His dark brown hair slicked back


His bifocals on the smaller side


His red turtleneck tucked into his roundness


His khakis revealed his white socks as he sat


His black shoes steady on the floor as his gaze across the table


His date: perhaps a memory of Valentine's past


His dish: chicken cacciatore with two rounds of garlic bread


His ire: raised by the “Fuck”ing by the boys at another table


His mouth: opened to say “Excuse me, could you use polite language?”


His beverage: beer

You Left

This behind, roommate: an abandoned black knee-high sock


I tried it on.
It almost covered my right knee—you long-legged loon.
I laughed.
I frowned.
I saw the speckles of bleach: white in the middle
And red around the edges.


Like the cut I got that one time: my right knee
Scraped the shiny wood floor, but I kept the ball in-bounds
So you could hit that clutch three to win the game.
The bone was white before the blood.
Or the cut I got that other time: that little white lie you told.
It remained white for a time. Then the blood crept. And crept.
I damn near died from infection.


I peeled off the sock
And I put on my blue GAP hoodie and got ready to leave.
And then I remembered
I left my black GAP hoodie for you.
Many times, we used to wear the hoodies when we went out
Like fraternal twins.


Standalone, the letters G and A were nonsensical
Like a baby’s goo-goo, ga-ga.
But that P was embroidered over our hearts like a promise.
I checked your closet before I left for winter break.
The hanger was there
The hoodie was gone