NEEDS MUST.

A WOMAN HAVING HER PHOTO TAKEN HAS THE CALL OF NATURE.

Michelle wants it all
Over with before
Her husband Henri

Comes home from work, but
The photographer
Seems to be taking

His time, hiding deep
Beneath the black cloth
Of the camera,

Babbling away
Like some frightened hen,
And she sitting there

Posing, trying to
Give a smile, but her
Cheeks are aching and

Her being so tense
Is bringing on one
Of her heads and the

Realization that
She suddenly needs
To pee, and the man

Just hides mumbling
Away, his right hand
Fiddling about

Like Henri does
At night beneath the
Bedcovers sometimes

Unsure of what he’s
Doing or why and
She senses the strain

And the beginning
Of pain and unease
And inside she is

Saying, please, monsieur,
Please hurry, take the
Darn picture, get it

Over with, get a
Move on, and the man
Said when he came it

Wouldn’t take too long
And now she’s really
Desperate, she is

Trying not to push
Her thighs together,
Trying not to lose

Her composure and
Nearly ready, he
Says, hold it, hold it,

And she is now, just
About pushing down
With all her might and

Holding her features
In place and then flash
And bang, and the light

And sound and her tight
Tenseness makes her feel
The need more and she

Rises and says (still
Trying to remain
Polite) I must go,

I think I heard the
Telephone and she
Runs from the room as

She once did as a child
When the so sudden
Realization of

Needing a pee raced
Through her and now as
She closes the door

Behind her, removes
Her underclothes and
Sits down, she sees a

Spider climbing down
The wall, big and black,
Then hanging there, it

Seems to wait and stare,
As if in some dream,
And only the fear

Of embarrassment
On being found there
Makes her hold her mouth
To prevent a scream.