Named For Another Man Poem by Robert Rorabeck

The snake’s skin is cast amidst the
Night blooming Jasmine along the green chain-link
Fence,
Where it must have disrobed sometime last night
After the fairer cars had passed,
And when the entire park was its stilled abode:
Up to the nocturnal blooms it strode,
For a kiss by a creature that buds like flame:
Just like that she kissed me-
My soft skin lay torn on a tangled yesterday-
But she went back to her husband,
Even if he was never home: and lay beside her daughter
Whose ribs were not mine-
Destroyed into the promises of metamorphosis,
I climbed underneath the airplanes that did not wait
For me- She remained, beautiful- named for
Another man- not for me.