"letters of note"

marvelous,

you are fooling around elsewhere.

we shared interesting places &
       listened to one another's antecedents.
i am certain
                   that is where this comes from.
i am half as good as i once was
                           and you see well enough.

to hell with it,
                         this is what we do
when we are at our best.

i am sure
               you were wonderfully
                                        naked

as you both tumbled the way novice acrobats
tumble. my memory will
                                                  place the shit
in the wastebasket, but this time you
                                                          cheated.

then my head flickers & i remember some old
words: "we have to hurt like hell
                                                     before we
get serious."