Blood Rushing To A Knight’s Head As in a tensile joust, In which stouthearted knights, Beribboned favorites of the king, Both dauntless competitors, Never dare to reveal The turret-tall stakes, Time and again, in the eventful years Following college, I shook Your firm, almost hallowing hand, Tallying in my head Your dynamic triumphs, with the requisite Courteous detachment (Yes, indifference was the hunter’s snare, The focused angler’s reel Of our later encounters, Mock indifference and its cousin, nonchalance) So as to outfox, longstanding crush And university rival, You, with your lightly disguised, Yet thoroughly transparent Fix on me (All of your ingenious bids To secure my applause—detectable Emblems of an undeclared desire), Taking note of the inimitable plays, The sovereign films, The gold and silver accolades, All you had so diligently attained, Sometimes with cast-ashore envy, Sometimes with welling joy— I see now: under my feigned politesse, My false reticence, Beneath almost negligible white lies, denials, I bore the crest and chilly armor That hid irrefutable loss, The fear, in this bustling life, first of squiring Then losing you— Page 26 - Nine Mile Magazine
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