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But if I were to have a lover, it would be someone
who could take nothing from you. I would, in conscience,
not dishonor you. He and I would eat at Howard Johnson's
which you and I do not enjoy. With him I would go
fishing because it is not your sport. He would wear blue
which is your worst color; he would have none of your virtues.
Not strong, not proud, not just, not provident, my lover
would blame me for his heart's distress, which you would never
think to do. He and I would drink too much and weep together
and I would bruise his face as I would not bruise your face
even in my dreams. Yes I would dance with him, but to a music
you and I would never choose to hear, and in a place
where you and I would never wish to be. He and I would speak
Spanish, which is not your tongue, and we would take
long walks in fields of burdock, to which you are allergic.
We would make love only in the morning. It would be
altogether different. I would know him with my other body,
the one that you have never asked to see.
- Barbara L. Greenberg