Dirty Glass

Love like the place on bathroom doors
in bad parts of town
where hand prints accumulate;
Like the vanity glass
caked in dust, nicotine
and I can only imagine
what else,
love like ours
browned and unkempt;
love like the staggering hallways of bad carpeting,
old paint and dusty bookshelves
that just seem to be there for posterity;
like the confused vision
fog in the mind
delirious
and I can only imagine
what else,
love like ours
in and out of sleeps;
when people close doors carrying mirrors,
when short coughs smell like bleach and ammonia,
when voices crack and words blend together,
when we can't sleep but are impotent;
love like ours
in and out of life.
love like the pieces of summer and youth
dark frames at the edges of rooms
that once had better bulbs.
love like ours.