FLOWERS

Beth threw the flowers on the grave in the rain that sang like needles on her skin and she did not feel a thing

rewind and it was a date, a stupid date, and Mark was here now, below, like a dimmed light angel that she lost

New York was where people reinvented themselves, and Beths guess was Mark had not always been a stockbroker

dinner, talk, laughs and smiles, walking along a street, and then the circuit cut in a dark piece of urban grave

this...thing....emerged from a sallow indent and confronted them, pointing a knife at Beth, and she stepped back

give me your money bitch, this animal said in a snarl that formed words, and Mark had simply said to this attacker, in his tailored suit, and tailored shoes

you want to dance?, pulling a blade, and holding the knife down like in the movies Beth had seen and

Mark, lovely Mark waved the knife back and forth like someone practiced, my God Beth had thought

the attacker grinned and came at Mark in a sweep with his knife, and Mark stepped back but not fast enough

and like a razor the knife sliced his shirt open, and a deep red bloomed on the cotton and Mark looked down in shock

before with an upward sweep Mark had swept back and caught the throat of this thing that attacked them

before falling to the concrete, saying to Beth im sorry, while the freak out of the dark died choking

and Beth had asked Marks Mom, many times, where he had learnt to fight with a knife, at the funeral, and other times

but Marks mom would just look confused at the question, so Beth gave up eventually and tried to move on

though his grave called on Valentines Day, because the man had saved her life.