Stay Awhile
by Kenneth Pobo
Dulcet thinks he needs to fire
up Ape’s desire. Ape buries himself
in gardening magazines, sometimes
forgets that Dulcet even lives
in the house. While listening
to “Stay Awhile” by The Bells from 1971,
two breathy vocalists sexing out
a sexy scene, the breathy boy sings
that she drops her robe to the floor.
Dulcet dons his salmon robe,
hummingbirds on the back,
drops his robe to the floor.
Ape keeps reading. In a film,
lust would seize Ape,
like Gomez when Morticia speaks French.
This isn’t a film. It’s Tuesday
and the dishes need doing.
He goes downstairs to dirty plates
where he will stay awhile.
Kenneth Pobo is the author of twenty-one chapbooks and nine full-length collections. Recent books include Bend of Quiet (Blue Light Press), Loplop in a Red City (Circling Rivers), Dindi Expecting Snow (Duck Lake Books), and Wingbuds (cyberwit.net), and Uneven Steven (Assure Press).
Human rights issues, especially as they relate to the LGBTQIA+ community, are a constant presence in his work. In addition to poetry, he also writes fiction and essays. For the past thirty-plus years he taught at Widener University and retired in 2020.