April Ossmann

Infidelity

I never stopped to consider
its less illicit pleasures:

its syllables tumbling so readily
off the tongue, the tongue

slapping lightly, repeatedly,
the roof of the mouth, the mouth

left open, as if with expectation,
or in surprise, or song—this solo

which leaves you alone,
holding the final note.

April Ossmann

Infidelity first appeared in The Spoon River Poetry Review, Vol. XXVII, No.2, Fall 2002.

Posted on August 15, 2006 3:02 PM