the sangarita through my straw hosed the fire
of your jalapeño eyes across the restaurant floor.
cacti swelled the room midnight from the rising of
your salamander smile like a premature moon.

stop. now.

yes, my tongue is dry, parched; swollen in
my mouth and obvious but let's be honest.
there are known rules and facts to observe
and besides, i'm tired of this. i know the rains
will eventually come.

animals can't equate pretense from an act of truth,
humans can't equate truth from pretense without a dance.
even the isolation of the desert requires conformity
to choreography which determines
the natural order of choice and consequence.

you wonder what could possibly be so wrong or different if
we spent one night with each other before resuming separate
lives? i'll tell you with one final glance;
the moment has been consummated, beautifully
without the truth of pretense.

what has this to do with the natural order of things?
you remain guilt-free when your wife returns from her business trip
and i can still look my friend in her face.
~

I just like the title.

the food was great.

perhaps you will like it better now, Psycho? the essence is shining through. brightly.

now, onto the lesson. what was i saying, oh yes, capturing and polishing the essence. in polishing the essence you must balance what it is you felt when capturing it, to what it is you want to say in a way that readers will comprehend and relate their own experiences with. you must remember that people aren't in your mind. you must detach yourself from what you personally understand about your writing and stand in the place of the reader who absolutely has no clue what the hell you're talking about. cohesiveness and conveyance play a huge part in the polishing process. this doesn't mean that you can't be ambiguous regarding circumstance and fact. it just means that you need to convey it in such a way that the essence reaches the reader so that they can experience its worth.

I like the way you put that.