A man of lesser virtue

tonight

I laid out my tux
polished my cufflinks
shined my shoes

dressed myself
then wrapped myself
in a lovely cashemere overcoat
and raw silk scarf

the occasion

a gala event
one of Seattle society's
premiere events of the season.

it was a grand night
I spent most of it
dancing with other men's wives

and

while quite alluring
I was content with my role

towards the end of the night
I was introduced to a couple
husband and wife
who I had been avoiding for some time

you see

for another man
she may have been harmless
but to me
she was entirely dangerous

which was why I had avoided them
despite the frequency which
we found ourselves at the same events

it is not even a question
of what I want
or what I desire

rather
it is simply
that she is exactly what I was raised to desire

a woman
whose virtues and failings
neatly meet
each and every criteria
which I was raised to adore

so while I
saw her across the room
silently lusted at her form
wrapped lusciously in red silk
I knew
only trouble could result
and kept my distance

unfortunately
life had other plans

and as I danced
with a dear friends wife
her husband took it upon himself
to introduce me to the man
and
the wife I have for so long lusted for

pleasantries were exchanged
and
the lovely lady
had apparently noticed me
dancing with others

and insisted upon a dance

it was

well

sublime

and

luckily for me

it was the last song of the night
so
we had little choice
but to bid our farewells

they departed
and
I was left with only the memory
of her entirely too supple flesh

so
lest I ponder such things
too long
I took my date
[the wife of a friend]
and went to a speakeasy
which I am tangentially involved in

to drink
to dance
to distract

and

until now
was quite successful

of course

burlesque dancers
excell at little more than distraction

but now

arriving home
in the last few minutes before dawn

I can only regret
that I allowed myself such
a simple pleasure

as I know to well
that

nothing good will come of it