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Published: Sun Oct 15 2000
Eva Lundsager, Were now like (detail), 2021, oil on canvas
What Gets in the Way of Love Is Love

Irene was on her knees,
_               _ filling her mouth
_                                _ with my penis

when I turned my head
_               _ and became dizzy.
_                                _ When she lifted her self

away from my body,
_               _ lay down on the sheets
_                                _ of the mattress,

she pushed a pillow over the bed
_               _ with one hand.
_                                _ The first time,

she took my hands
_               _ and showed me
_                                _ the dark, fluttery grass

between her legs.
_               _ The fuzzy orange perfume
_                               _ of her vagina

burned straight up
_               _ in my nostrils.
_                               _ Two, perhaps three, times

I thought I had an erection
_               _ and she opened her legs
_                               _ and I leaned forward

and my penis began to soften,
_               _ go away.
_                               _ She always took out

two glasses of water
_              _ but I never raised one
_                              _ to my lips.

Once she stopped me
_              _ in the middle of the afternoon
_                             _ and offered to remove

my clothes.
_             _ When she pulled off
_                             _ my underwear

I was almost her son,
_            _ my eyes looking back
_                             _ with the barest of color.

See what's inside AGNI 52

The second book of poems from Jason Shinder, Among Women, is forthcoming from Graywolf Press in April 2001. His other books include several poetry anthologies, the annual series Best American Movie Writing, and, forthcoming in December 2000 from Harper Collins, Tales from the Couch: Writers on Therapy. He is on the faculty of the graduate writing programs at Bennington College and the New School University. (updated 2000)

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