Golden Lady

bar eyes smile
cat at me
across the smoky floor

return the compliment,
mask thirst, cover desire
to be somewhere
somehow
necessary

golden lady's touch
is cool, numbs
urgency, drifts
laughter past my lips,
beckons, leads me
from one
to one along
the twisted paths
of nameless fools

paws me playfully
while i stand transfixed
not the predator
not the prey

but something
between