Sonnet


Love never held my hand
like those summertime couples
palm to palm, the perfectly
interlaced fingers
the pressures


Love never flung himself
around my shoulder, or
measured my convivial waist


Love was a grandmaster though,
and he laughed when he came on
like gangbusters who
would refuse him, ah.


I knuckled under, no regrets
but I’ve always wondered


Hettie Jones