I Think She Was the Kind of Girl

who hadn't worn much underwear since she left for college
I could just imagine

I sometimes wear my helmet and sometimes don't
I can't decide if my brain is something I want to protect

When she got on back
I could just imagine what vinyl felt like
how she might stick to it (or it to her)
and the way it would sound if she ever got off
and the ways her thighs would rash and redden

"Oops," I said when the motorcycle went down in gravel
and I guessed I should not have been showing off so much.


(Originally published in Huevos, 1987)