I paint my nails for you –
'Lectric blue and you still don't give a damn
Remembering the French nights we dwindled away
Sipping imported wine with unimportant people
Swaying to spice-kissed music and poisoned stiletto heels
Beneath sharp starry lights and midnight purple skies.

I see everything in color
And you –
So monochromatic
Dull, placidly idle
And I –
So vivid
Intensely rainbow-hued.

We'll tango with the best of them
Stamping out our aggressions onto a black-flecked dance floor
Jaunty red skirt brushing up against your thigh
Passionate fighting, hinting of the romance
We had & you lost;
It's so toxic and you're so intangible.

You loved the spark in my eyes
And I –
Desired a blaze
To burn dazzling, alive
And you –
Ran to your Anna,
Tame and homely mistress.

Cymbals crash overhead, drowning out our fierce movements
Grabbing, throwing, pushing
Flick of the wrist, fingers sprawl one two three four five
Succession like a harsh wave
Pummeling the tile, we salsa with fury –
The onlookers beam from above
Cat-calling to our snakebite wounds
Draped over a Spanish veranda
But sadly, you never knew my nationality.

I held your fiery side
And you –
Couldn't let go
So compressed, repressed
And I –
Soared on my own
Left you to wander, waver, lonesome.

Golden medallions, I wore your stripes
Together forever, as the engraving goes.
But we still can't work out our artistic differences
Except by throwing our bodies,
Young and limber,
To the primal heat of the music
Later, kissing in the plush burgundy chair
Matches the liquor settling in our stomachs.

We need to work this out.
We need to break this off.
We need to fall in love.