Knowledge

Midnight, taxi nos count boundaries
like passing signs; restaurant nos twitch

as elbows collide, forks intersecting.
Cinema nos recoil, chuckling nervously

as popcorn scatters. Staircase nos blame
leering cameras, straightening collars.

Elevator, escalator; still no. Bedroom nos end
in slammed doors, trembling hands. Or yes,

murmured till bodies halt; barely outweighing
the strain of refusal.