In That Order by Cherie Rankin

The day you became

my muse was

a Monday.

Sex

BLTs

and whiskey.

In that order.

Standing over the sink after

laughing,

tomato juice running

our chins,

no plates.

Passion not in grand gesture

but swift and

savory.

Later laughing more,

holding down bar stools,

putting down whiskey,

Johnny Lang on the jukebox and

warmed by Jameson.

Bubbles of laughter,

smiles bubbling to the

surface at our good fortune

It was an autumn Monday evening--

Jimi's “Wind cried Mary”

and the sky cried outside

while we were inside warm

from the inside out.

When kissing goodbye,

rain was a cold shiver.

Cherie Rankin is a professor of English at Heartland Community College, in Normal, Illinois; she lives 45 minutes southwest of Normal...  Her work has been published in Dragon Poet Review, Labor: Studies in Working Class History, and Poetry Breakfast.