You Wanted
A slave so I left you
You wanted a love
But you were married
You wanted me forever
I was obsessed with
Another. You wanted
A friend you could kiss
I wanted a love to
Adore me. You wanted
A mother, a sister, a
Brother. I wanted an z
Other. I wanted a passion
It was out of fashion. I
Called for relief. I prayed
For quiet. When I stopped
Wanting—the perfect diet
Paul, short by an inch
Dark smart found music
Manuscripts in Paris
Diabetic, sometimes ate
Cakes. Talkish, perfectionist
Polite in bed. I left him
For a girl. Nothing at all
In my head. Musicians both,
I fell harder for poetry.
Jane Barnes has published work in BWQ for more than 14 years, and has poems in Gay & Lesbian Quarterly, Ploughshares, River Styx, The Massachusetts Review, and Wrongdoing. Her work appears in the anthologies Bi Any Other Name and Getting Bi.