LOVING STARE 1962
You show me
Yochana
how you practice
the piano at home
by playing
on your knees
as we sit
on the grass
on the playing field
at high school
I watch your fingers move
the thin fingers
with the pinkish nails
can you hear the notes
played Benedict?
you ask me
no just see
your fingers move
I reply
I was playing the start
of Beethoven's Fifth
you say
fifth what?
I ask
fifth symphony
you say smiling
I like your smile
it is shy and rare
I play the fingers
of my left hand
on your right thigh
do you know what
that was?
I ask
you shake your head
no what is it?
you and me
I say
you laugh
and hold my fingers
in your hand
and kiss the tips
I shouldn't even be here
with you
if my mother heard
she'd be mad with me
you tell me
why she doesn't
know me?
I say
you're a boy
and from this school
and that
is enough for her
you say
and if Angela
does say
she's seen us
then I'm in
hot water
but Angela's your friend
she won't tell will she?
she has before
when my mother
questioned her
you say
we sit and watch
other kids sitting
like us
or playing ball games
or running around
in tag games
you release my fingers
I best go
you say
just in case
and you kiss my cheek
and walk off
towards the girl's
playground
and I watch you go
studying your
slim frame
your dark long hair
and I give you
a steady
loving stare.
