“Please, Please Me” by Benjamin Nardolilli

I look at her ceiling the way
others look might look at her shoes,
my neck and eyes align
and take in cool cement
hanging above me in a flight
that is heavier than air

 

What a jail, I look downward
in anticipation of bars,
arms jumpsuited in orange
these textures and temperatures
make me look for a spoon,
some way to shovel out.

 

She sits at the table typing
and I think, how rude to ignore
me during this visitation,
I was planning on making for her
a conjugal intercession,
it’s what the cement allows me to do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Benjamin Nardolilli currently lives in Arlington, Virginia. His work has appeared in Perigee Magazine, Red Fez, Danse Macabre, The 22 Magazine, Quail Bell Magazine, Elimae, fwriction, THEMA, Pear Noir, The Minetta Review, and Yes Poetry. He has a chapbook, Common Symptoms of an Enduring Chill Explained, published by Folded Word Press. He blogs at mirrorsponge.blogspot.com and is looking to publish his first novel.