2 Poems

The Last Time

The only time we had dinner together

in a restaurant with white tablecloths,

he leaned forward and whispered

Did you bring your Visa card?

I should have read the signs…

previous dates were long walks on the beach

visits to the Zoo on free admission day

and watching the wings open from the

pedestrian bridge at the Milwaukee Art Museum

Better rid of him now, only cost me

a bottle of aged wine, crab puffs

lobster for two, Pots de Crème

and a little crow

Pet Names

In private, what

do you call your

spouse or significant

other…

like Sweet Stuff,

Toodles, Precious,

maybe Punkin’?

Nicknames,

those from college

aren’t what I mean.

Calling him Dad

or her Mom,

when the kids

aren’t around,

makes me wonder.

My Honey Bun

rarely calls me

by my given name

nor does he have

any lovey-dovey

pet names.

However, last night

feeling tender, he said

Good-night Pork.