So I tried to stand
on the old soap box

but my charm is wrapped
in an unfamiliar package

while yours flows
as easy as a smile

and as complicated
as no compromise.

All your stories
of travelling men,

adoring queens, whores,
torpor and booze

pale in comparison
to the way you feel

up there, the point
of the electricity

keeling through
the undulating algae.

I don't want to compare
what used to be,

what we used to call
the Splendor,

to this last encore,
this breath away, a note

jotted down hastily
as a famous last quote.

jam11