"Oh, what's this?" she
by Carl Santoro
asked as he held them
together like
two sides of dry rubber cement
going for that permanent bond.
"It's my new
eight-second hug."
"What the…what's this
all about?"
"Not much, really.
I just want our hugs
to have more passion
and intimacy
from this day forward."
"Okay, that's enough. Let me go now."
"See. It feels a little awkward, right?"
"Ah, yes. Not a little. A lot."
"But we are married. We always give a
goodbye hug or a hello hug."
"Yup, and one second is just fine.
You're not proposing to impose
your weirdness on
everyone in the family,
are you?
And, why eight seconds? Why eight?"
"I don't know. I thought about
the length and it seemed
one second shorter and the awkwardness factor
would not have been there.
I wanted to create a physical, as well as
an emotional, surge during the,
mostly ignored for its value,
embrace.
I even felt that at the end
each person should make some kind of statement.
Any kind will do"
"So, like the Goldilocks thing -
not too hot, not too cold,
but just right?
Is that it?"
"Absolutely!…uh,
you can let go now."
"Oh! Geesh, I was just
getting used to the
smell of your neck."
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Very good.
*
This made me laugh. Not like a full on belly laugh, because that would be weird, but a little snicker. Or possibly a snigger. (I'm not sure what the difference is.)
Good to see Frankie back, and I agree with her take. I'd say "snicker" which seems slicker than the other. *
Funny.*
Odd and funny. So true about the awkwardness factor happening between one second and the next. Yep, I liked this a lot.
Liked this a lot. ***
Liked most of it; not so much the ending. *
Heh.
Nicely done.
Jake, thanks for your comment re: "Oh, what's this?" she"
Actually, regarding the ending, I did have a discussion with my wife. She feels the male is "kidnapping" the female. Putting himself into her space without a clear invitation. I had meant this to be a technique shared by family members only if it became adopted as a new
tradition. The ending came to me as my fingers were pounding the plastic and I left it. Perhaps a new ending would be better. Your thoughts?
Is this a changed ending?
If so, or even if not (Jake to the contrary), I like it and think it works great.
Good poem. Fun idea and execution.
*
I had one of *those* smiles plastered to my face as I read this :)