why did you turn?
why did you glance back?
why did you hesitate for that moment?
-- H.D. "Eurydice"
We were almost out of hell,
only a step or two more,
and I began to think: boys, boys.
I had just started noticing boys,
how beautiful they are, the fine hairs
that circle their nipples, the legs
that cinch at their narrow waists.
And I asked myself, "Are you making
the right decision? Do you really
want to spend the rest of your life
with her?" And I had to look back,
just had to look back to make sure.
