Bob Hicok
Love Poem
Prayer by Man Ray (1930)
For a time we licked toes & liked it
& neither of us asked the other to wash,
I realize now that we stopped
as abruptly as we began & never
feet, never ankles, never assholes,
a common theme among prostitutes: men
who want to beg to lick their unwashed
assholes clean, on or off a leash, never
that & I don’t miss her toes
unless they’re out of town & she
has joined them, then I miss her toes
as very much as I miss her & flesh, she
has more of it as she ages & I
have more of it as I age, more
to lick & not lick as we like,
it’s as if there’s a menu & she
is the menu & everything is allowed, minus
forever
