John Stehman
SHEET METAL SCREWS
He goes into the room. There is a table.
She is lying on the table, as if in a hospital.
She is prepared to leave this life. After 40 years
together, they are going
to
make love,
one last time. He is in his undershorts, T-shirt
and socks . .. she wears loose underwear
beneath a sheet. There are no flowers.
There is understanding, a smile, a brief
touch. He begins
to
mount her on the table.
You can see his boner rising in his shorts.
He puts his hand up under the sheet, along
her leg, up the leg of her shorts. There
is a note on a small piece of paper, folded.
He unfolds it, stopping his advance, and reads:
"There is a surprise for you in the cupboard, Jack."
He goes to the cupboard, opens it, and finds,
near the front edge of the shelf, a jar.
It
is filled with sheet metal screws,
~"
by #8,
with a Phillips head.
