Chaos Finds Me Even in Dreams

Women who touch
you without leaving
fingerprints
are a dark alley
risk. I called it
quits with Jan
knowing this
and little else.

Our punk,
outer shell thin
veneer, now cracked
and deformed
by failed love.
I was betting
we'd each
find a new pretty mask
before our museum
bought abacus would cast
any shade.

But she got
unlucky first.

I was sleeping when
her midnight call came
to rescue her from an ex-con
who wants to go back
as he screams at her
in a hotel room
she doesn't remember
entering before
locking herself in the bathroom
with too much coke
in her purse
to call the police.
So, she calls me.

A romantic,
I get out of bed,
put on my pants and
shoes, find my knife
and head out the door.