tempted

'Posso' they say and they mean
I could, not I may

They do not toy with
chance, do not relish
velleity, English soufflé

As you bend forward, place
your hands on the table
and let 'carpe diem' fall -
a crystal of water splash between us -
I look to your eyes
but through the fallen neck of cloth, at the
blurred edge of my gaze, watch the curve and double
of beauty held forth and nestled and
linked in lace

'Posso'

This sets conscience at play. This pricks and rests my desire,
seeing a bank by the river
and sitting on rugs on grass that rises like
hair on the skin,
near the flow of the water,
where you might lean forward and I
reach in
the raw point and peace
of desire

'Posso'

In a walled and silent black alley, to
myself, 'Posso' I say
but I mean I
may, not I could

'Non posso'