View the rest of the poems from Gwynne Garfinkle in the December 2005 edition:

• Days of Wine and Roses
• Blood and Chocolate Ghazal

Days of Wine and Roses
by Gwynne Garfinkle

(after Chagall's The Birthday )

the beginning was the best
when he'd do backflips for me
& levitate

later on he'd barely lift
a pinkie, much less perform
contortions

that was now my gig. as for
the dream of Sleeping Beauty
woken by a kiss

well, no - unless you count
the occasional phone call
at 3 a.m.

how I'd sit at the bar
drinking my vanilla martini
(I later switched

to whiskey) & wait for him
to show. then I'd watch him
drift above the

barstools, I watched him
float away

Gwynne Garfinkle lives in Los Angeles. She is currently working on a vampire novel and completing an MFA degree in creative writing from Antioch University LA. Her work has appeared in such publications as Exquisite Corpse, Big Bridge, and How2. Visit her website.