It could be love

but, then again, it could be fear,

as if you're not the one

I gently knock heads with in a bar

but the Halloween monster at the door

promising both trick and treat.

 

All I know is

this relationship that could be forming

is fragile.

Besides which, there are medical statistics

to consider.

Past loves are dangerous enough

but past sex could be deadly.

 

That's why when,

reaching out to each other,

it's not just about enjoining hearts

but merging tributaries of possibly unseemly fluids.

 

Ignorance no longer works with bliss.

Even the merest of likes demands latex.

Intimacy itself has become a

history lesson, a science project,

a medical examination

that declares us pure, unsullied.

 

Can romance stand the strain?.

Is passion up to all this?

We're like an airplane cleared for takeoff.

But I can’t help thinking about routes already flown. 


 

Couples
Justin Duffus
Oil on linen
28in x 30in

Couples
Justin Duffus
Oil on linen
28in x 30in