We used to wait outside at the girls rooming house by the Ohio in Cincinnati Sex does not self heal Nor does the salamander we trapped under the moss We always said We'd die together At daybreak We knew better Love does not always fill the heart On rainy nights It kills the heart The noon at the clinic shall remain our secret The long recovery Bittersweet We woke this morning To our failed romance Your boyfriend from Somalia He was right Some women are exotic Like goldfish only less slippery Always out of reach