No More Nima 1967 Poem by Terry Collett

Benny never heard
from Nima again.

Weeks past
then months.

He guessed
she either
forgot his address
or was back
on drugs or both.

But he looked back
at their time together
and smiled.

The times
they made love
and met and drank
and ate.

He remembered
his hospital visits
to see her
but that
was it now
the show was over
the actress
had left the stage
and the curtains
had dropped or closed
or whatever curtains
do on stage.

But he recalled
that night
in that cheap hotel
in West London.

That night of sex
and bathing
in that large
bath together
and the landlady
knocking at the door
with extra towels
and he Benny there
in his underwear
and the old girl
giving him the stare.