if it slid into him full throttle
as a baseball player sliding into
home-plate, kicking up the dirt into
his face. A mound of smoke rising

from the ground, the cheer of the
crowd. He wouldn't know love if it slapped
him silly. If it knocked out his two front teeth
nilly-*****. If he bled from the mouth

with a swollen lip. All he knows is
that he couldn't kiss. He wouldn't know
if it ran him over like a land Rover, leaving
tracks on his chest, scars up and down

from his hip to his breast. Cutting off
his legs and mangling his arms. He wouldn't
know love if it dropped him out of a plane, and
he hit the ocean like a freight-train!