Sloane Angelou is a 2021 Eloquent Mag poetry winner for the theme // N O S T A L G I A //.

The One Minute Man

By Sloane Angelou

this conversation with this man

it started by the poolside

there was no reason except there was a job to do

we both had jobs to do; by the poolside

I, minding my business was offered an apology

which I took for no reason except there was a job to do

we both had jobs to do and mine required some privacy

so this conversation with this man

it started for no reason

led to an exchange of numbers; two numbers

1. I don’t drink – I can’t get you a bottle of whiskey

2. I can take you to buy it but I cannot be seen with it

that should have been a sign – a red flag

okay how about pizza

we will eat then I can eat you – if you like

he laughed for no reason

that should have also been a sign – a red flag

but traffic lights never stops a thunderstorm from rolling

baby I am the brief rain that follows the heavy storm

a tease

I do not bend to man’s will

my wife and my children, I will make them happy and then I can focus on my work

excuse me

yes my wife – I have to get home because I have a curfew with my wife

I did not know you were married

help me connect the dots between your religious abstinence from alcohol ; lasting for less than one minute in my warmth ; leaving me with an unappeased libido ; and your unfaithfulness to your wife…

a mild irritation

an acquaintance turned enemy

a blocked contact.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Sloane Angelou is a storyteller and writer of West African origin; passionate about learning of human existence by interrogating human experiences. They exist in liminal spaces.