Jones Soda

[lofro]

"Jones Soda"

"Can I have a taste?" you asked me,
Referring to the bottle of Jones in my hand;
It was flavored Berry Lemonade,
An unnaturally blue soda, sparkling with
A twinge of backward looking sour.
What else could I say but sure
As I handed you the glass bottle
And watched you tilt it back and spill
The carbonated water into your mouth.
You swirled it around for a moment
And then, with a thoughtful pursing of the lips, commented:
"You know, I think I like it better than mine."
Then you handed back the bottle, and before I knew it,
My thumb was cleansing the rim of the traces of your mouth,
Wiping away your presence so that it would not meet mine.

Mere months ago, the thought of your saliva intermingling
With mine would have been the result of a common day;
The marking of a successful return home for either of us,
A brief, wordless note that meant exactly everything.
Mere months ago, cleaning off your glass
Before pressing it to my lips
Would have never occurred to me;
Now, it is reflex,
Something assumed,
As though that were how it happened since the day we met.

4-30-06