The Dark

Are you afraid?

You shouldn’t be.

I am too big to be obscured in the dark.

The slightest light betrays my frame.

Imposing, hairy, and yes, fat.

Ever heard of Bachus?

I look like his uglier brother.

Who am I to ask

another to take me on?

I look at you and see a future.

Our travel, adopted children, and long careers

flash before my mesmerized eyes.

You notice me stare.

I look away and in an instant that life disappears.

For a moment I try to revive it,

but you catch my eyes and smile.

In that twinkling set of universes

I am reminded that there is a happy life:

one with a better family, a handsomer husband,

a more beautiful life, and I feel the guilt of my selfish fantasy.