Some animals are excited to a rage
by certain colors.
When I was a girl I danced in red dresses.
I ate cake and learned to walk.
The room is just
the room again. The same
as any other. It is always
too late somewhere.

Cars make noise forever on streets
littering the careful eloquence of hotels.
You come on too strong in a sport coat
in the dull heat of summer
in a cramped room at the edge of a party
where the guests have already gone home.