artwork: ralph murre
WHAT
THEY CAN AND CANNOT FAKE
by Bruce Taylor
Any
orgasm except a real one.
True
love but not a sneeze
Not
at least convincingly so.
Death,
as children make believe
Though
never nearly long enough.
And
the shape of a kiss on the lips
But
not the reach nor rest of touch
That
lingers just below the finger tips.
Any
present fashion of desire
Lust’s
vogue and classic craze
But
not the first loss loss requires,
Nor
compassion’s passion ablaze.
Not
luck or the Blues, a fugue, cold sweat,
Foul
fate, true tragedy or real regret.
~
previously published in The Longest
You’ve Lived Anywhere:
New and Selected Poems
