Group(Ed) And Alone Poem by Raj Dronamraju

People making love in hastily built apartments
The walls are like paper, a strong breeze makes them vibrate
But what I must know is passion given lightly in such poorly built housing is like a stain on the rug or a neighbor playing his music too loudly

And what I must know
What is wrong with you? What is wrong with me?
To be perfectly content coupled up in such cramped quarters
Waiting for the next tremor to run outside
To run outside and make the acquaintance of others

And what I must know is
Overcrowded laundry room frustrations
Hold our breath in a one bedroom apartment and listen to each others' business
Dream-passion-arguments no more real than the smell of cooking that wafts through
And in each room a portal to another's life
And in each room a fiberglass heart half-filled with cancer