Hotel

check in, turn on the radio
set alarm
go to reception

return full of appetizer
log on laptop to house system
take a photo sitting on bed

think about special
curl my lips in the mirror
flex and marvel

consider bath without bubble juice
look at tub again
there must be three whirlpools here

I don’t relish running down halls
from cruel children making fun
of my bruised chicken legs

in the wet there are swirls
vortexes because hand waves
I love and drift with them

take a photo run
to tub and plunk
all pink and giggles like a real man

the popcorn is pre orange
it smells like a painted snack
tastes like heaven

a mistaken swipe
of a hotel room key card
her mistake, Val from Dave’s agency

she says sorry,
I forget her name
Bev is not right, she switches on TV (loud)

this place is like a tunnel with a view
roses on lone length, imitation pleats on the other
one could stumble in the dark and end up wedged

Arms folded,
legs crossed hours before sleep
doing a good job of cutting off circulation

one of those bumpy Midwest
ceilings, halfway to Superior,
words in the Dell this night