Duplex: As You Like It
Stetson University, September 1969
I enter the Forest of Arden,
oaks planted in a green lawn, with palm trees
along the verge. It’s Florida, so, yes, palms,
no matter how the founders planned it elsewhere.
No matter how I wish I were elsewhere, here,
with friends who are no friends, I love a man,
a man who can’t love me back. I dare not say.
My crowded dorm leaves me lonely. Tonight,
walking from dorm to downtown, I walk alone,
crowded by my dreams. I learn, even here,
dreams can be companions. I imagine
new futures, real friends, men who can hold me,
men to make love to me, men who will love me.
I emerge from the Forest of Arden.
David Milley’s recent work appears in Neologism Poetry Journal, 3rd Wednesday, RFD Magazine, and Last Stanza. His collection of verse, Tiller and Shears, is scheduled for publication by Kelsay Books in the autumn of 2026. David lives in New Jersey with his husband and partner of fifty years, Warren Davy.
