HOME /  Poem :  A weekly poem, read by the author.

Mistake

By |Posted Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2003, at 11:57 AM ET

Listen to Richard Costello reading this poem.                                               after Cavafy

My clients may not see it,
but when I think of our kiss

in that grimy hallway where,
finding ourselves suddenly alone,
with quiet, unguarded eyes
we offered our mouths—

I get lost, and may utter a small, desperate sound
they mistake for acknowledgement.

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Richard Costello lives in Greensboro, N.C., and works as a physician assistant.

Clickhere to visit Robert Pinsky's Favorite Poem Project site.To submit poetry to Slate, send up to five poems and a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Robert Pinsky, Slate Magazine, Boston University, 236 Bay State Road, Boston, MA, 02215.