Tonight's Poet Corner: Ow, I Adore You

Ow, I Adore You
by Belinda Roddie

It's interesting how infatuation
can feel like whiplash - how a kiss
can leave a sunburn if you don't
prepare for the glow. You lean forward,
put your head between your knees, because
the pounding in your chest's creating
vertigo and there's no safe way
for you to swoon for her. So you hide

your face. You hide your lips.
You hide your watering eyes. Deep breaths
remind you of your own cadence. She
is so far away now, yet she scatters
dry leaves beneath your feet. They
don't crunch under your heel, though;
all they do into flatten out, admit
defeat, a TKO on an autumn evening.
Now you need ice for your sore neck.