Conventional

I’ve been single 

a few times 

since I was sixteen 

a few weeks

to punctuate 

the serial monogamy 

like the phrases of music

the lift, the arpeggio 

of love, the moment 

when the chorus 

joins in

like a flock of angels

until even 

the bed of adoration 

hums

and by single

I mean 

not tied into

an agreement 

with one person 

but not free of 

the bondage of love

not free like the fireworks 

exploding into the powder 

and dust of night, not free 

like the stars when their

cores collapse 

and they fold inward

but bound like a 

psychopomp to walk

into the caverns

of death 

like Orpheus always

looking over my 

shoulder, always carrying

the past and the future

slung across my back

held in my arms 

you know what I mean 

these conventions 

that tell us 

how to live 

I find them

‘scribed under

my skin. 

Orpheus in Hades by Pierre Marcel-Beronneau