Long Nights

Take off your shoes
Pin up your hair
Don't worry about the crumbs
or the dog hair. Spill
your wine on the carpet

And don't worry about the
mail; this has been a long day
and it's gonna be a night
deep as hell.

There is no help at the door
and no one inside. All the window
are closed and the curtains
are blind. Sheets as cool as
a shroud and your lips wanting
a swell.

TV is chatter, night fog for the ear,
your skin has grown onion thin,
your heart a mollusk shell.

You just don't want to go,
and you'll die if you stay.
Those will be the words
on your dying day.