Last Night

There are those who point to this piece as the poet's first sex poem, his first work with a nakedly erotic theme. It comes from the same era as "The Unicorns" and "Monument" (a long time ago). Those who subscribe to the "three identities" in William F. DeVault's work see this as the rise of "Androne", also known as "The Actor", that amoral, id-centric, but all-so-smooth tempter who lives an unsteady truce with the more creative and dominant "Amomancer" aka "The Dragon".

Rather than a seduction, it is a post-seduction soothing, calming a troubled young woman who suddenly regrets the previous night's surrender(s). It plays well being read both tenderly and as a "Hey, you weren't arguing last night" shrug off (I could actually imagine James Bond doing this piece to a "conquest").

In any case...

Last Night

you cannot go back.
last night is now dead.
and all that remains
are the stains on the bed.

do not seek excuses.
we all find regret.
it is part of our being,
like blood, spit and sweat.

and just as fluidic.
transient and moist.
evaporated pleasures
we deny were our choice.

though often I regret things,
curses cast at time
may wash away the bloodstains,
but never change the crime.


William F. DeVault. all rights reserved.