Once in Amsterdam

Did you know I denied you

once in Amsterdam?

It was after my face flattened,
after I saw a red-headed Satan,
after pondering if Mario slept

when you hit the power button.

I was lying in the bottom bunk
in a room where the walls

jutted unmercilessly

and my sneaker was the size
of my head. I saw your face
in my mind, reflecting,

foreign as I was.

I said your name, and asked
who you were. Manny said

a desperate "What?"

I checked my watch,
which spoke to me
in Russian malapropisms,

and yes,

I thought i understood
Time's perilous, sparkling prism.
And then I forgot
some other things.