I
\nIt is a crowded room
\nor a quiet one
\nalways dimly lit
\nand preoccupied in its demeanor
\nand the clientele arrived in a symphony of gestures
\nprecise, practiced and postured
\na language we all understand….
\nAre you Curious?
\nAbout the man sitting at the bar? When you walked into the room
\nyou both glanced up in the same moment
\ngazes met
\nunfazed
\nyou lowered your glance, so as not to be crass
\nhe diverted his, letting the flicker and the liquor
\nplay on the dark intent of his features
\nso you might read and transcribe the deft economy of desire
\nwe have all seen this before
\nand even participated in the loosely defined ritual
\nyet
\nthere was that feeling of prefabricated destiny
\nsuch intensity triggered that surely, now, you needed a drink<\/p>\n
II
\nWhat is it that attracts one mode of being to another?
\nWhat in the subtle indications, invisible posturing
\ncauses the seamless meld of barcodes grafting, one over the other
\nstatic hiss, surface gliding\u2014
\nend product unknown
\nyet derived from the same and endless repetition
\nof a narrative
\nwhich by now we should find dull
\nfacetious and exposed
\nyet we concede…
\neven though the gesture is dishonest in its motivation
\nas with anything seeking to invest itself with meaning
\nWhat and why magnetizes me and you
\nis the unknown quantity
\nmy destination though prefigured
\nis always unfathomed…<\/p>\n
III
\nAre you Curious?
\nThe man sitting at the bar is sitting next to you
\nYour glances merge and overlap once more
\nat ease with the molecular friction
\nhe absorbs the gesture with recognition
\nhis smile, (or is that a smirk?)
\nsmudged with the affect of knowing,
\nnonetheless seductive
\nfor here and now you exist
\nfor the here and now of intent upon your bodily presence<\/p>\n
Curiously you understand his past
\nHis mother was very beautiful and near insane
\nHis father departed
\nfrom the picture very early
\nHe was called upon to perform more than the duties of a son
\na certain demand, we shall say, was extracted
\nsuch that beneath its weight he began to crumble, softly
\nunnoticed, until one day he came home
\nshe sat on the yellow couch sipping coffee
\nshe poured him some
\nin her sexy precise way
\nshe lifted the demi-tasse
\nto her lips
\nit was then he noticed her teeth and lips were stained
\nnot just with coffee
\nor nicotine
\nbut perhaps, he realized for the first time
\nwith the blood of his father
\nHe had always wondered where the father had disappeared to
\nand now\u2014<\/p>\n
She intercepted his thoughts quite quickly, even before he was able to accomplish them,
\nbut he was swifter in his actions
\nhe immediately fled the apartment and never saw her again<\/p>\n
From then on he wandered from city to city to escape her,
\neven though she was dead and far, far away she seemed to rise up and haunt him wherever he was
\nwomen in cafes, lips, teeth stained
\nnot just with nicotine and coffee, but
\na certain luxury of guilt that women seem to bask in,
\nwould rise up to accost\u2014
\nmarking his fear with the irony of a situation he could never quite justify<\/p>\n
IV
\nHe is a tortured soul
\nHe takes out a cigarette, if you act within seconds, you will offer him a light
\na minor concession, decidedly seductive and
\nunexplainable and ironic
\nWords will be few, gestures abound
\nIt is rainy, you will share a cab
\nHe asks if he can come up for a nightcap
\n(even though he has consumed far beyond legal limits)<\/p>\n
V
\nYou kiss
\nswift, deft lingering
\nAre you Curious
\nYou ask, To know what it is I desire?
\nIt is at this point he realizes that you too have teeth and lips stained with oh so many things, he seeks
\nto flee you
\nAnd why should you let him?
\nyou have waited for him for
\noh, so long…<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u00a9 1996, 2013 onome ekeh<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I It is a crowded room or a quiet one always dimly lit and preoccupied in its demeanor and the clientele arrived in a symphony of gestures precise, practiced and postured a language we all understand…. Are you Curious? About the man sitting at the bar? When you walked into the room you both glanced up in the same moment gazes met unfazed you lowered your glance, so as not to be crass he diverted his, letting the flicker and the liquor play on the dark intent of his features so you might read and transcribe the deft economy of desire we have all seen this before and even participated in the loosely defined ritual yet there was that feeling of prefabricated destiny such intensity triggered that surely, now, you needed a drink II What is it that attracts one mode of being to another? What in the subtle indications, invisible posturing causes the seamless meld of barcodes grafting, one over the other static hiss, surface gliding\u2014 end product unknown yet derived from the same and endless repetition of a narrative which by now we should find dull facetious and exposed yet we concede… even though the gesture is dishonest in its motivation as with anything seeking to invest itself with meaning What and why magnetizes me and you is the unknown quantity my destination though prefigured is always unfathomed… III Are you Curious? The man sitting at the bar is sitting next to you Your glances merge and overlap once more at ease with the molecular friction he absorbs the gesture with recognition his smile, (or is that a smirk?) smudged with the affect of knowing, nonetheless seductive for here and now you exist for the here and now of intent upon your bodily presence Curiously you understand his past His mother was very beautiful and near insane His father departed from the picture very early He was called upon to perform more than the duties of a son a certain demand, we shall say, was extracted such that beneath its weight he began to crumble, softly unnoticed, until one day he came home she sat on the yellow couch sipping coffee she poured him some in her sexy precise way she lifted the demi-tasse to her lips it was then he noticed her teeth and lips were stained not just with coffee or nicotine but perhaps, he realized for the first time with the blood of his father He had always wondered where the father had disappeared to and now\u2014 She intercepted his thoughts quite quickly, even before he was able to accomplish them, but he was swifter in his actions he immediately fled the apartment and never saw her again From then on he wandered from city to city to escape her, even though she was dead and far, far away she seemed to rise up and haunt him wherever he was women in cafes, lips, teeth stained not just with nicotine and coffee, but a certain luxury of guilt that women seem to bask in, would rise up to accost\u2014 marking his fear with the irony of a situation he could never quite justify IV He is a tortured soul He takes out a cigarette, if you act within seconds, you will offer him a light a minor concession, decidedly seductive and unexplainable and ironic Words will be few, gestures abound It is rainy, you will share a cab He asks if he can come up for a nightcap (even though he has consumed far beyond legal limits) V You kiss swift, deft lingering Are you Curious You ask, To know what it is I desire? It is at this point he realizes that you too have teeth and lips stained with oh so many things, he seeks to flee you And why should you let him? you have waited for him for oh, so long… \u00a9 1996, 2013 onome ekeh<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3544,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[126],"tags":[8,204],"class_list":["post-423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-poetry","tag-company-girl","tag-poetry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thememorexe.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thememorexe.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thememorexe.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thememorexe.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thememorexe.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=423"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thememorexe.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":430,"href":"https:\/\/thememorexe.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423\/revisions\/430"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thememorexe.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thememorexe.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thememorexe.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thememorexe.com\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}