INDECENCY

       
    
           I said:  – Didn't you say he was off to become a monk
           Or something?   Halabi puffed:  -That stopped him not from getting
           The lady swelled with child!    I could hardly believe my ears
          (Though they’re more reliable than my other body-parts).
            Stew?    The Condommaster?   (That’s what he often called himself
            During group-therapy sessions for Reluctant Lovers.)

           - So he just dumped her?  Here?    I was surprised at my own scorn.
            Halabi chuckled:  – Why not?  She should board jet-plane with him
            And maybe, who know, captain give them crash-divorce up there?
            Halabi’s too fast laughter now at his own bad-tasting joke
            Only increased my disappointment in Stew’s behaviour.

                                                        *

            – Then you mean Stew and this girl were – are still – married?  i said.
            Aware that the server standing behind the cash-counter
            Was watching us.    Halabi smiled smugly:  – We really not
            Should call her girl, no, she lookèd more like older sister,
            Except for ripen belly and hugs and kisses frequent
            Before and after and during applicating paint
            Which she help Stew preparate.   Sometimes i say her:  Mona,
            You not need for to take break?  Sit down!  Relax for goodsake!

             Halabi was shaking his head at the ways of the young.
             I became aware that my dropped jaw wouldn’t let me speak:
             No, not the Mona, not la Radica whom Stew had loved
             To excoriate in his gripes to me about her style.
             Just how had they managed to bridge the gap between two rungs
             Of that snobbish ladder no-one likes to admit exists?

               (from “fatima solagua arterra’s nudes” by Brian Chan)