Portrait of a Love Affair

Her body was open to my touch
as if my knock
were already
an accepted conclusion;

as if hello
were an afterthought,
a shock,
a rude intrusion;

as if request
were not subject
to the rule
of death;

as if respect
was only a male
confusion;

as if goodbye
were a future not permitted
to happen;

as if...
as if...