The Temple

This is an old one. I still quite like it, which is unusual for me looking back on past works. I guess I’d been reading a fair bit of Larkin at the time.

We left later than planned.
I walk through orange streets,
just behind companions
deep in talk.

Her dress coaxed me along.
As did her voice.
It’s a number of things
to be attracted to someone.
“Another?”
And so I had. We seemed
to be getting along.

We’re at someone else’s now.
The glass in my hand, full
with the red,
is forever being topped up.
Sloshed words slosh about.
I spent most of the time
looking through his records.

Beer should never
be introduced to medication.
I do it anyway. Drunk for
half the price. It does
nothing for my figure.

That night
I met my past lover.
I broke the ice
with a quip about the host.
We’ve since parted.
I still have her number,
written in eyeliner,
on a stained serviette.