Other Couples Are Foreign Countries

You can visit them
like one visits Indonesia
or South Africa

or Brazil,

but you are a tourist
encountering 

the Chamber-of-Commerce's
promotional exhibit,

the Ministry of Propaganda's 

redacted adaptation.

You must venture beyond

the guarded perimeter

to experience the primal truths

of romantic coupling:

        wander stark-naked 

        into the wilderness,

        go full native 

        with the indigenous,

        sacrifice 

        to their heathen gods,

        paint your flesh with 

        the blood

        of their enemies.

All are born savage.

The barbarian lurks beneath

a veneer of civility.

Some conceal it more than others,

many from themselves.

This is especially the custom
of social media mavens

who broadcast a tinsel parade 

through the capital square 

while their union rots 

at its foundation.

Each of us is on all fours

with a stranger, 

toiling for glimpses 

of the transcendent,

seizing them, at best, 

enough to prolong 

the alliance.

There is nothing to envy
but those magnificent moments
discovered
in your homeland.

**First published in Barbar Literary Magazine