Late Afternoon Delight
Late Afternoon Delight
by Ivan Jenson
Your thoughts like
your hair are
braided too tightly
your lips
are pursed like
your purse
where you keep
all the secret things
that a woman needs
to get by
like the chapstick
you can apply
to awkward pauses
in coffee shop conversations
what I am saying is
stop watching your watch
and trying to tell time
what to do
you can’t change the fact
that it could be a quarter to
so much more than four
don’t you see this moment
hinges on your
laughter over spilled
half and half
A fine piece on inhibition, with a nice flow to it that contrasts the personality it’s describing. It seizes on moments in her behavior that keep her from living in the moment; the most telling: “stop watching your watch and trying to tell time what to do.” The last detail is perfectly conceived.