ROMANCE Poem: Parlour Games, by Alison Martin

Hold my hands,
And read my palms
Till eyes turn blotched from blue.
Examine my lines,
And turn the time,
And force my white lies true.

Tell me the sorrows
Trapped in my tendons:
Where rivers of mourning will drain.
Give time and give place –
When love soon will wax.
Tell me when heartache will wane.

Peel back my skin,
And in milky moats:
You’ll find castles and conquests and sailors in boats.
Through blood you’ll sift, patient, to find
A head full of poison –
A brain without mind.

Your hands will hold mine
For minutes or more
While marbles of mine
Are scattered on floors
Of black inky soup with white speckled dots –
Of cosmos and meteors coupled in knots.

Just hold my hands
And read my palms
While my eyes drown in blue.
Run off and dance,
With stars above,
While I sit here with you.