Betel Leaves

30 poems in 30 days challenge! Day 9

He strums his guitar
Sitting on the porch
In the ginger night air
Wattling strings of music
Whispering a love song.

She sits next to him
Swaying, drunk on his ballad of love
She feels powerless
Like a marionette
To which he holds the strings
Tugging on desire,
On pain, on love
Inside her.

Suddenly, she grasps his arm
Like a tigress' talon grasping its prey
Luscious and tempestous, she leans forward
But just as suddenly, he pulls away.

She sits stunned
Its like he pulled the rug beneath her feet
And let her fall, head first, on the floor
Brusied, she gets up and begins to cry.

He laughs
A child's laugh
A wicked one
The sound makes her nauseous,
Bitterness rises like bile inside her
It reminds her of chewing betel leaves.

A fringe of cherry blossoms surround them
On this warm summer evening
But why does it feel like a cold winter night?