Daily Poem: Mon Semblable ~ Stephen Dunn
Mon Semblable
~ Stephen Dunn
I like things my way
every chance I get.
A limit doesn’t exist
when it comes to that.
But please, don’t confuse
what I say with honesty.
Isn’t honesty the open yawn
the unimaginable love
more than truth?
Anonymous among strangers
I look for those
with hidden wings,
and for scars
that those who once had wings
can’t hide.
Though I know it’s unfair,
I reveal myself
one mask at a time.
Does this appeal to you,
such slow disclosures,
a lifetime perhaps
of almost knowing one another?
I would hope you, too,
would hold something back,
and that you’d always want
whatever unequal share
you had style enough to get.
Altruism is for those
who can’t endure their desires.
There’s a world
as ambiguous as a moan,
a pleasure moan
our earnest neighbors
might think a crime.
It’s where we could live.
I’ll say I love you,
which will lead, of course,
to disappointment,
but those words unsaid
poison every next moment.
I will try to disappoint you
better than anyone ever has.
Masked Lovers at Venice Carnival
