Questions

I thought I had more poems with questions on them, but there’s just fivenull. It is just a coincidence that they are all love poems (well, love: jealousy, loneliness, contempt, arrogance, and insecurity). It is probably not a coincidence that two of them are tankas: haikus have to go straight to the point and they don’t have time to ask questions!

Cream on my coffee.
Silver on his hands.
Who could give him all those rings?

Nata en mi café
Plata en sus manos.
¿Quién le habrá regalado todos esos anillos?

Sofas at right angles.
You sit on the other one,
We’re drawing an L.
L for “leather”, “love”, or “lust”.
Maybe for “lonely”, instead?

Sofás en ángulo recto.
Te sientas en el otro,
Y formamos una L.
Nos une el cuero, el amor y la lujuria,
O tal vez la soledad.

He has everything.
The women describe his smile,
Remember his name.
But, who loves someone who eats
Alone in a public place?

Lo tiene todo,
Las mujeres describen su sonrisa
Y se acuerdan de su nombre.
Pero, ¿quién quiere a alguien que come
Solo en un lugar público?

“How can we know the dancer from the dance?”
Do I dance better if you watch?

¿Cómo distinguir el baile de la bailarina?
¿Bailo mejor cuando me miras?

Killed by your beauty,
Little tag hanging from my lips:
Coffee “or something”?

Tu belleza me ha matado.
Una etiquetita cuelga ahora de mis labios,
Y dice “¿Quedamos para tomar café, o algo?”