Love Not: 1 Plus 1 = 0

Edward Hopper, Office at Night, 1940, oil on canvas, Walker Art Center, USA

If he thought like a poet
he might have perceived
the way her slumped-against-
the-doorframe attitude
subtly changed from one of displaced longing
to one of crushed defeat
as his mouth reiterated
his ascetic determination.   “Hey, can’t we just
be friends?”

If he thought like a poet
he might have observed
his own deltoids and pectorals
(having moments before ripped in two, 
spine first, the city yellow pages
before her admiring eyes)
his very martial muscles bark:   “Hey you — over 
there — yeah you — Funnylookin’. Can’tcha
give us a smile? Come’ere.”

But no. Strategic thinker, he’s an analyst 
whose logic dictates kings be under threat from
nearly everyone in the game: prepare, defend
sacrifice
Kings be trapped by queens:
mate — game’s over.

Catherine Lee, of San Antonio, Texas, is a widely published neo-Beat who reads solo and with improvising musicians “on poem.” Joint gigs in Boston, Massachusetts (1986-87) with her mentor, poet/hipster tedjoans, got her juiced on this journey. Lee is currently working collaboratively with actors, a music composer, and a video artist on a poetic drama called “Mentor Wonders” about folks who mentor public school students in South Texas. Find Lee's multimedia projects on Soundcloud and VIMEO and reach her at Jazz-Ovation-Inn.com.