Musak blaring, peppermint gum covered floors like chum
& guano, I stood in a lift
beside Morticia's
licorice
daughter
her
black
balm
mouth
pouty,
sensuous;
her goth demeaner
blank gaze & radical candor
engrossed friends dressed like ravens in a lost lover's maze.

Ill-advised flirtations bloomed in pigmentation's void;
nightmarish kisses passed, tongues moved
her tombstone touches
encouraged
& chilled
still
I
stared
at
panel
lights wishing
the elevator
would power up, drop its greased, steel
cable gently & permit the stuck door to open.