Untitled #6

One-on-one lessons end
With abrupt reminders
That this mentor
is being paid in full
to lead us into a new age
Of repetition

The first week back is grounded in old sensations
The same clicking jaws
Parenthetical
Individually numbered examples
Ordered pairs
Third and fourth warnings
Pleasant revisions
On permanent records

Then her edgy heels double click off of the linoleum
This girl claims to understand
I remain passively still for her first wave of jaded compliments

Then I give in
And share my tenedencies toward indifference
I let them spread and bloom from her pours

I often think about how much she picks up on
How much she learns
While lying on her washboard stomach
Silk knees and feet swinging back and forth in the stale air
Our heavy blue eyes glued to the airbrushed television screen

I'm pretty sure I knew then that such normalcy wouldn't last
One of us, barely sleeping
The other, medicated and dimly awake

- C.W.