across a crowded room; the half-stroked wrist
during an introduction; not yet kissed,
the cheek inclined; the nervous overbite
and pout when nothing happens; the long talk
with friends about what may not have been meant
by words at parting; the lush flowers sent
to make things plain; and the extended walk
in seaside rain when something real is said
that can't be taken back. First kiss, first fuck,
first time you know that years of rotten luck
are over. These add up. Once you are wed,
they seem the tickings of a clockwork fate
that wound up from that first quite awkward date
