Gratitude

thank you
for letting me stay here
thank you for taking me in thank you
for the beer and the food
thank you
for loaning me bus fare
thank you for showing me around
that was a very kind thing to do thank you
for the use of the clean towel
thank you for half of your bed
we can sleep here like brother and sister,
you said
but you changed the rules
in an hour or two
and I don’t know what you
and your sisters do but please don’t
please stop
this is not my obligation
what does my body have to do with my gratitude?
look at you
little white lying
for the purpose of justifying
what you’re trying to do
I know that you feel my resistance
I know that you heard what I said
otherwise you wouldn’t need the excuse
thank you
for letting me stay here
thank you for taking me in
I don’t know where else
I would have turned
but I don’t come and go like a pop song
that you can play incessantly
and then foget when it’s gone
you can’t write me off
and you don’t turn me on so don’t change the rules
in an hour or two
I don’t know what you and your
sisters do but please don’t
please stop
this is not my obligation
what does my body have to do with my gratitude?