LIP GLOSS

      1.

Standing upright, slim and blond
on a subway platform

She pulls out a stick
to gloss her lips

He was inches away
from the curve of her arched back

A Greek gladiator’s lance
pierced him

His spider’s fine threads
spun around her

She was his!

      2,

Subway arrives, but he
could not move,

Her silken hair
had wound around him

When the doors opened,
he was the one

Ensnared

— © Abraham Menashe