Michael Colonnese

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Sense and Sensibility

I've been invited to the bonfire party twice—by two
talented young artists, and once I might have regretted
not being the last to toss my empty bottle of Wild Turkey
into those dying embers after having also ingested
a handful of Quaaludes and perhaps propositioning that girl
with the nose ring and dirty toes and waking up
the following morning, jingle jangled and remorseful.

Instead, it's 9:30 PM, and I'm in bed with Jane Austen.
The sheets are cool and clean, and I'm turning the crisp pages,
truly wishing the best for Elinor and Edward,
and distressed that such gentle and intelligent people
should suffer so very needlessly—for these are the pleasures
and dangers of sublimation although I've read
the book before and feel certain they'll work it out.

Michael Colonnese is the author of Sex and Death, I Suppose, a hard-boiled detective novel with a soft Jungian underbelly, and of two poetry collections, Temporary Agency and Double Feature. He lives in the mountains of western North Carolina, near Asheville.