Samurai

How could I ever have suspected that you
would wield your politeness like a weapon?
I realize now that I was playing your game,
unwittingly. So I was bound to lose.
If you are always right then I am always wrong.

No wonder I so often had this dream:
I am a student again, and the semester is ending.
Wait! Tomorrow morning I must take my Italian exam
but I did not know I was in an Italian class.
(I told you once that I have these dreams)

Perhaps you put them there to stoke my sleep
with worry, to dry my mouth with fear, to elicit
the cold sweat of night-tremors. Thank you,
I say. I bow, I look down (not in your eyes,
for to look upon you that way that is impolite).