From right after Obama got elected

Losing Obama

1.

It was Inauguration Day

when the sad revelation came

that two semi-new lovers

had turned the corner

and were now

two habitual bodies

who ought to just rinse off and get out.

It was a cold, school-less afternoon.

Nothing stirred in the room.

The kind of day a community organizer can sink his teeth into

and which presidents

can not distinguish

from any other.

2.

Sometimes I think I’d like to love Jesus

or flags

or maybe just a living room totem.

Anything to get my mind off my flimsy convictions.

Anyone who holds anything very dear

has a day or two at least

when it’s necessary to sit in a dark room

and address your suspicions.

Imagine Barack Obama

envying the chewing faces

in restaurant dinner windows.

If you saw him from way up high,

(say, from the top of a skyscraper)

looking through the window
at a regular couple at a regular meal,

you might get some idea of how difficult it is

to be impressive

or inspiring

or in love

all the time.