Poetry by Adrian Sobol

no longer than the knot

I want to look disheveled tonight

like it’s you who sprayed

the day back into my hair

I’m trying in a way 

that says I’m not

even thinking 

about your lips 

wrapped around 

a tremble of guitar

a fistful of spotlight 

liquor & sleaze prying 

this song from my teeth

the air tastes wet tonight 

like cheap beer and New York

but who wants New York now

when there’s Chicago 

with you in it

bruising my skin 

like a kiss 

from a speeding train

lately I need nothing more 

than to touch you

to crawl across 

this crowded bar

just to hold the hem 

of your dress 

in my mouth 

once we’re evening’s lovers lashed

our fever’s thin halo

sways still in the doorway 

holding the moon still 

in the skylight

the words still fresh

in the bedsheets 

still wrecked 

the time still time enough

before regret sets in 

like a photograph

of you spitting your drink

in my face 

laughing, joyful

your bones slick

with bourbon 

& bad barroom light

when I tell you  

love is no longer

than the knot in my finger 

you let the knot 

in my finger get lost

in the sweat of your skin

---

Adrian Sobol is a Polish immigrant/musician/poet. He is the author of two full-length poetry collections HAIR SHIRT and The Life of the Party is Harder to Find Until You're the Last One Around, both published by Malarkey Books. He lives in Chicago and is the editor-in-chief of KICKING YOUR ASS.