I Wish

I know you and I are old addicts
seeking each other
for money for crack or heroin
or me offering money for sex,
but once, just once,
like Bowie says,
"We could be heroes,
just for one day,"

You would kiss me w passion,
and I would desire you
more than anyone else
in the world,

and we would kiss
like it was our last kiss
together, and we would
say to each other,
"I love you, very, very much,"

and it would feel like
the end of "Casablanca,"
instead of a scene from "Nosferatu," where you
would spend the night
drinking my blood,

and I would moan w pleasure
as you drank all of my blood,
and afterwards, I would
hand you my money—

"Let's pretend we love each other,"
instead of pursuing our desires
but if all we were meant to do
was pursue desire w money,

I could think of no one else to do it with but you, pursuing sex w a friend, and if we can't love each other, let's at least try, and chase desires w each other as friends, if not lovers—

Jean Jones has an MFA in Creative Writing Poetry from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. He teaches English as a Second Language part-time at Cape Fear Community College in Wilmington, and is regularly published by Horror Zine and Aphelion Webzine.

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