Housewife

I
I am awakened by a movement.  My sleeping body rises
off of the couch, sticking slightly the faux leather. 
Other than that, I am silent.  I look over the back of the couch.

They are there on the floor.  Her legs are up, wild and in the air
and he is between them.  I lay back down and go back to sleep. 
The next morning, I ask her, and she denies.  I ask her, and she denies.

I tell her what I saw and she denies.  I leave. 
Number five.


II
When I put my key in the lock, it won’t turn.  I bang
on the door.  She opens it and I rip the key out of
the other side of the European lock.  She kisses me.

I push her away.  She asks me why I am home. 
I stomp to the bathroom.  The toilet seat is up.  I stomp
to the bedroom.  The sheets are down.  I stomp

to the closet and open the door. 
Number four.


III
I turn the doorknob so silently that they don’t hear me. 
His back is towards me and I can see the bottoms of her feet. 
She is on her knees and I can hear her a little bit, but her screams

are muffled by the pillow that she is biting.  I exit the room,
slam the door, blast the radio, sit on the couch.  Some guy is
singing falsetto on the radio.  They come out.  He is still

wearing her skirt. 
Number three.


IV
I wake at four in the morning, sweating.  I reach over and feel
mattress and pillow.  I am awake like coffee can never do.  I press
my uniform.  I shine my boots.  I dress.  The door unlocks.  Her hair

is disheveled.  I hold her and she is hot.  She tell me a story about
a man and his flat tire and her willingness to help him.  I walk her
to the bedroom.  She undresses and showers, again.  I unzip

her purse and find a note. 
Number two.


V
I stand near a woman.  Her curly brown hair and dark eyes shadow her face. 
I cannot see that she is smiling.  Her hand still clings to the doorframe so that
she is not fully outside.  I say to her “Your friend tells me that you have a…”

She interrupts me.  “Yes, I have one.”  I take a drag and blow it out.
She does the same.  I turn to leave and her hand, the one that was
on the house strokes my shoulder.  Her breath is hot in my ear.

“You want to come in?”
Number one.