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Description
Ours was a squalid kind of love
dust-allergic people would not understand.

They see what their senses say
are undeniably there: twenty grime-
encrusted toenails lining the edge
of a street, congealed grease on palms
toying a shared cigarette, a laughter reeking
of mad breath and stained teeth, unctuous fingers
that curiously do not slip
free from their putrid clasp. No,
no Jenny and Johnny are we—a pair of
paupers with rioting mildewed hairs.
My foul shoulders to your filthy cheek,
our dirty knees huddling, we almost look
like lovebirds, only fetid ones
with feathers soiled in mud. And so
they turn their eyes away

before the dust could settle, and fail
to see the wretched romance
we faithfully keep. Vigils held in wait
for the footfalls of homecoming,
a hundred secret messages
sent by one ugly grin, countless fiery kisses
quietly sealed on Marlboro stubs.
A rough tenderness unique—perhaps
exclusive to us tramps.

Holding hands like this
among garbage cans
we shed the many smelly layers
of filth rank odors sweat and let
our bodies go naked, be finally free
of guise
and reveal what we alone perceive:

a pure and clean love.

Description
Ours was a squalid kind of love
dust-allergic people would not understand.

They see what their senses say
are undeniably there: twenty grime-
encrusted toenails lining the edge
of a street, congealed grease on palms
toying a shared cigarette, a laughter reeking
of mad breath and stained teeth, unctuous fingers
that curiously do not slip
free from their putrid clasp. No,
no Jenny and Johnny are we—a pair of
paupers with rioting mildewed hairs.
My foul shoulders to your filthy cheek,
our dirty knees huddling, we almost look
like lovebirds, only fetid ones
with feathers soiled in mud. And so
they turn their eyes away

before the dust could settle, and fail
to see the wretched romance
we faithfully keep. Vigils held in wait
for the footfalls of homecoming,
a hundred secret messages
sent by one ugly grin, countless fiery kisses
quietly sealed on Marlboro stubs.
A rough tenderness unique—perhaps
exclusive to us tramps.

Holding hands like this
among garbage cans
we shed the many smelly layers
of filth rank odors sweat and let
our bodies go naked, be finally free
of guise
and reveal what we alone perceive:

a pure and clean love.