This poem was recently revised, and due to formatting problems has been re-posted out of chronological order.

The Conjugation of Take

Jan 17 2010

The conjugation of take,

taken, took.

“He took a lover”, let us say.

As casually as an umbrella

when rain threatened,

a penny for change.

A simple act of will, a dalliance;

women

throwing themselves

at him.

Did not fall in love

did not give himself up

to her.

And not the one true love, soul-mate, life partner,

but the indefinite article

- a conquest, a notch

to add to all the others.

And “lover”

as in making love, not in it,

seized, not given.

And “he”, of course;

because women are not nearly so free,

or weren’t

when such things were written.

And the future tense of take, will take, will have taken,

until the future circles back

broken-hearted again.

A sentence of 4 small words

parsed

until it is purged of all glamour

and gallantry.

He has become a cad,

and she, the object of desire

a brief distraction.

He took a lover,

and she was taken

advantage of.