Rules of Engagement

Rules of Engagement

I do not lie here on the porch in black and white print like some newspaper carelessly thrown,
a headline waiting to be read,
flashy and full of language made to stir your interests in me.
Once, that might have felt like the promise of an identity.

I do not conjure excitement like a street bazaar
for flattery of sex.
Your crooked smile has me more interested
then what daylight forbids us from seeing.

I do not wish to be easy to imagine.
My heart forbids even stethoscopes from hearing its beat.
It says you should be able to use your senses as best as you can
to know how to trace me.

I do not drift like ballad through mind.
I am a stolen sheet stained with love
that write’s it’s own music
for only deaf ears to hear.

I did no work to create myself into the man you desire
that planned itself like sugar on my tongue.
No pre-heating or anything
I was just turned on and made.