The Side Effects Of Poetry

The girl in the seat
in front of me

at the Malvern Books
poetry reading

kept fiddling
with her hair

putting a barrette
on this side

and then on
that side

of her wavy brown hair
mesmerizing me

with thoughts erupting
where everything

in that faraway land
would be perfect

and just
suddenly poetry

reared
its ugly head

but the scent
of that girl

clung to my jeans
that afternoon

and did not dissipate
until evening