Taking Off Our Clothes

TAKING OFF OUR CLOTHES
—Scott Cairns

Let's pretend for now that there is
no such thing as metaphor; you know,
waking up will just be waking up,
darkness will no longer have to be
anything but dark; this could all
be happening in Kansas. We could lie back
in a simple bed that is a mattress
on the corner of a floor. We'd have nice
blue sheets and a wool blanket for later.
I could be the man and you could be the woman.
We'd talk about real things; casually and
easily taking off our clothers. We would be
naked and would hold onto each other
a long time, talking, saying
things that would make us
grin. We'd laugh off and on,
all the time unconcerned with things
like breath, or salty skin, or the way
our gums show when we really smile big.
After a little while,
I'd get you a glass of water.