Want To Know 1933 Poem by Terry Collett

You sit on the grey patterned sofa
beside him and he is talking
about things you have
no interest in

but you pretend you do
and you are dressed
in that open(too open) dress
your mother said

that is bright white
and your hair is permed
neat and tidy
and you wonder

what he really thinks about you
(if he thinks about you at all)
and he has that thin moustache
as if it took him ages to trim

and his dark hair
combed so neatly
and oiled too much
and not once

has he mentioned your dress
or how good your hair looks
or what you think about things
he just talks and talks

and looks at you
with dark eyes
(maybe undressing you
right down to the silky underwear

you have on)
and his arm creeps behind you
at the back of the sofa
his other hand is near your thigh

(you can see it
out of the corner
of your eye)
now he's talking about business

(his business)
and how well it's doing
and how shares are on the rise
after the fall

two years ago
but does he love you
is all you really
want to know.