Acidification

you are an acquired memory
I feel you've always been here
some matron butting into my business
so much so, I sit here by the window
watching you take over my life

too many memories litter this room
there are too many emotions misspent
I replay you like a sentimental ballad
as though playing you would rewrite the lyrics
sing you in a different key

you sip genever and nibble zoutjes
with the gravity of taking communion
confess your regrets like accusations
the fashionable scene and reckless sex
as though I pimped you round the town

the world is your problem, it has nuance
slippery, like an eel to the touch
like a man, it twists and turns
vague and unpredictable in the hand
indolent when the temperature is cold

my language is crude and doggerel
I speak in double entendres
a tongue you misunderstand
as you watch my lengthening shadow
arc like a sundial across the wall

your squeezed fruit face cannot hide
disgust at my inconsiderate salute
well have no fear my dried up dear
my delinquent doesn't rise for you
but for the fresh faced girl who charmed
before your juice turned acid