My Love and I Are Inventing a Country

---

In South Dakota or Minnesota, they mistakenly

upgraded us to a suite. We were giddy

with accident, even if the place still reeked

of carpet cleaner and stale humidity. My head

thrown back in the cheap sheets, your head

somewhere between the foot of the bed and me.

We turned out the lights in all three (three!)

rooms and watched porn on your

computer screen: petite blonde begging

for a better grade, pigtails and a prep-school

skirt, only the caesarean scar to give her

away. We laughed that we liked it when

the men left on their socks, when the boom

mic dipped into the scene. In the middle

of the night we went for burgers, so juicy

and affordable they were practically free.

You said you are going to get married

to me and I, mouthful of grease, said

happily, happily. There was no need

to wait, even for morning, so why did we.