Promiscuous Circulation

The opening of this poem reminds me of the liaison element in a play by Sky Gilbert, The Dressing Gown which Rick Bébout sums up beautifully: "The title named its key prop, perhaps even prime character: a robe passed from one man to the next, central player in a series of tricks."

Here is Stephen J. Williams from Out of the Box: Contemporary Australian Gay and Lesbian Poets edited by Michael Farrell and Jill Jones

the dear departed
     lovers that have gone

angels that once terrified us
     — threatening to bring death

so near as love —
     sometimes return.

these lost lovers,
     whose provenance and history

is harder than a coin
     passing hand to hand

through all the dull business
     of the commonwealth,

arrive at our aching arms
     unexpected.

There is more to the poem. See "the dear departed [lovers that have gone]"

And so for day 1888
13.02.2012