Dreamless Poem by Robert Rorabeck

We did away with dreams.
Like accountants we made practical
And timely love to one another—
We didn’t waste minutes with
Affectionate words from our lips,
But left those necessities to our
Cost effected eyes to talk loudly
And instantaneous the truth on
How we felt,
How our irises gorged upon our fleshes—
In night, we were each other’s watchmen
Who grabbed one and then the other bodily
But gently making sure neither
Would escape our blanketed cell,
Intimate mates who were in for life,
For if we were ever to become responsible
Parents with modest to comfortable incomes,
Effective citizens of our united enterprises,
We must continue on the assembly line
Of our sheets around the clock,
To keep fitting our parts together
To make the final product, busy insects
Pollinating the others’ meadows,
Forever dabbing and fiddling with one
Another to perfect the processes,
And during lunch breaks
When the whistle blows,
Playing with each other’s feet while
Socializing at dinner parties.