LONGINGS by MICHAEL MINASSIAN

The woman at the next 

booth at the diner

called me by my name—

you don’t recognize me,

do you? she said, 

through pursed lips.

I tried to remember 

if we had ever met,

but drew a blank.

You once wrote a poem

for me after we spent

the night together, 

she reminded me:

You had twelve pet names for my vagina

You insisted I bring along a friend

You lectured me on proper table manners

You had my name tattooed on your wrist

You said I was your muse

Even though I knew

I had never been tattooed,

I checked my wrist:

there was nothing there.

Not until later did I realize

she was speaking in metaphors.

The next day, I returned

to the diner;

she was sitting 

in the same booth—

longing takes many forms,

I whispered to her,

tracing the outline of her name

on my bare arm. 

MICHAEL MINASSIAN is a Contributing Editor for Verse-Virtual, an online poetry journal. His chapbooks include poetry: The Arboriculturist and photography: Around the Bend. His poetry collections Time is Not a River, Morning Calm, and A Matter of Timing are all available on Amazon. A new chapbook, Jack Pays a Visit, has just been released. For more information: https://michaelminassian.com