Doris Cornago - Utter Ignorance

What do you know of love

Something that is peddled

As wares on a side street

by perfumed women in tights

and low cut bodices - their

dead eyes fastened on bread.


Or the course one takes

Upon seeing a new face

Meeting eyes in a crowded room

a nod of understanding

hurry out of the room

before somebody senses.


An excuse from boredom

A rubbing of flesh

A grapple, a cry of pain

She has mistaken you

for somebody more gentle

Now she is crying poison.


We are strangers from start

we pretend we need love

to unmask others, make them

conform to the person we want

In our utter ignorance, love

turns from unmasking to deception.

Doris Cornago

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/utter-ignorance/