All the Lonely Men

All the lonely men

using women like coats

stuffing feelings into the

pockets to save for later

or to find next winter

when the world is too

cold to bear again.

“Hold me, see me, 

Keep me warm

Let me fill you 

with me.”

They don't want the cold, they

don’t want the warmth, either, 

or the coat,

or the woman.

“Safe keeping”, let's call it (not protection,

that would be too vulnerable),

is a job for the coat and its pockets,

a luxury masquerading as necessity

to be cast off to the closet as soon

as the sun is warm enough

to let lonely men forget 

what they left in the pockets.

Christie Flemming