Crippled Kiss

Heard the beginning of the end 

In her understated breath 

Between bites of cheese pizza 

And bite-size glimpses of a nonexistent future. 

She said I love you 

Which is why I cannot love you 

Because I have a helpless habit 

Of hurting anyone I care about. 

Well, she didn’t say that 

Through anything resembling words 

But she made it opaquely clear 

When she pulled back from our crippled kiss.

Being a man of exceptions 

I took it as one of her deceptions 

Or perhaps the unnecessary protections 

A lover takes against rejections. 

Then as we kissed again 

I started to believe her 

Thanks to the premature gratitude 

Slipping from her slippery saliva.