Here I am now,

amid the moonshine and the

moonlight, the crowds and

the grandeur. I hear drunken

chords plunked on the organ,

clopping feet locked in a foxtrot,

women laughing.

And across the room I see his smile,

his shirt of sheer linen,

shining brighter than any of it,

unbelievably true.

His counterfeit glass is

balanced in his heavy hand

like a scepter;

he tilts it toward me,

and I feel my heart dance…

but I cannot ever think it.