Worknight Tango

He lounges on our grey recliner,
tungsten lamplight reflects his face.
Crow’s feet smile—
revelations mishaps jokes
non sequiturs—
thumb and index finger clasp
page bottom,
wrist muscles contract.
An intellectual
I return my gaze
to paperwork splayed
across my desk.

Seconds pass, his hand grasps
my shoulder. I take off reading glasses,
look at beam greying beard.
You’re distracted,
he grabs my hand,
takes us to our bedroom.

Dani Putney is a queer, non-binary, Asian American poet exploring the West. Their poetry most recently appears in Brushfire Literature & Arts, Juke Joint Magazine, and Red Eft Review. Presently, they're infiltrating a small conservative town in the middle of the Nevada desert. To read more of Dani’s work, click here. To see them read their poetry, click here.