I dreamed of a conversation
which more or less actually happened.
This summation is not quite poetry,
but it’s what I scribbled in my notebook.
Back in the dream or back in the memory or
back in the memory of the dream or
back in the dream of the memory…
Franklin, an ex-boyfriend of mine
tells me he has something very important to ask me,
as I remember him kissing me a lifetime ago…
2002 with the Green Dragon.
“Is this Christian really as hot
as he looks in your pictures?”
“Do you have a particular Christian in mind? I don’t really keep track
of the religious views of my friends. I, mean, I like to know about my friends,
but religion isn’t currently in my polling questions.”
“No. Christian.”
Then Franklin says Christian’s last name,
pronouncing it correctly the first time (which I did not)
and I smile.
“Oh! That Christian! Yes. Yes, he definitely is that hot.
He’s also funny, talented, compassionate, friendly, insightful,
he has a nice laugh and his wardrobe is both classy and slightly,
in my opinion, pornographic.”
“Pornographic?” and I can hear the smile in his voice.
“You’d have to see it to understand it completely, but I’ve
seen grown men drool at the sight. I mean, I’ve been one
of those men. But if you think he’s all that and a bag of chips,
just wait until you see Charly!”
When Aaron hears me tell Franklin this he calls me a bitch.
Franklin, with disappointment: “His boyfriend?”
“No. Christian doesn’t have a boyfriend,
though you and I do.”
“Then who’s Charly?”
“Charly is Christian’s better half.”
“But you said…”
“Yes I did. And I promise that I was telling the truth,
because Charly is definitely not Christian’s boyfriend,
husband or man friend.
“How to best describe Charly?
Charly IS a beautifully stunning, exceptionally gifted individual…
who manages to be ethereal yet completely approachable, and unfailingly sweet,
though not in an artificial, obnoxious kind of way.
“Charly is one of those people who you meet
and the subtlety with which you are beguiled
leaves you haunted for days afterward.
Christian has a similar allure, so I can see
why they make such a good couple.
“Charly is Christian’s muse. She’s also his girlfriend.”
And then Franklin calls me a bitch too,
and I laugh for several weeks.
I send Franklin to Christian’s website to see clips of his magic.
“His website is almost as hot as yours, though for different reasons.”
I think I’ll have to tell Christian about this the next time I see him,
only I’ve not seen him in a month
and who knows when I’ll see him again, really?
As I’ve said, I then had a dream
about this conversation and I like the extra details,
a bit of fiction which compliments reality.
I write this down on my way to therapy,
then transcribe it to Facebook less than 24 hours later,
to be published a few weeks later
on Christian’s birthday.
Written by Jason Wright
September 11, 2018
For Franklin, who inspired it,
just as he inspired me when he first crossed my path,
more than 16 years ago…
For Christian, who inspired Franklin’s question.
For Christian’s wardrobe, which, to paraphrase Radiohead,
is surely a siren, singing others to shipwreck.
For Charly, who inspires Christian and who inspired my response.
And for Aaron, because it always comes back to Aaron, doesn’t it?
Nobody calls me a bitch quite the way you do. ♥
