our cottage in Ireland will have a little vegetable garden
a miniature paradise for you

I'll tend to her, pull out all the weeds
courgettes, spinach, and strawberries, will be just the beginning
I'll plant potatoes, tomatoes, snap peas, herbs
and right in the middle, I'll plant an apple tree for you

and you can eat love
you can have your fill

perhaps St. Patrick banished the serpent,
or (more likely) they never roamed the emerald isle
either way, we need not fear the snakes

there's no need for repenting, no need for penance
you can make a home in my heart,
and together we'll find our place in creation
for you'll always be safe in my garden

wind whipped in Chicago I told you how I probably broke my hand way back in high school
didn't do anything about it so it didn't heal right
on bad days it goes all numb and tingly
most of the time it's fine though

you didn't think that was really okay, said I should talk to a doctor about it
you always made taking care of myself seem so reasonable,
so easy

you slipped into my life and I was hopeless
knew right away that I never wanted to let you go
so I'll hold onto you with my aching wrist
as you handle me gently
and I love you in every soft way I know

four thousand miles
and I see you in every plane overhead

I miss you when I sip my morning coffee
I take it like you do now, iced chai with oat milk
any little thing to bring me closer to you

four thousand miles and every moment I try to inch closer
I think if I squeeze my eyes tight and try really hard
I could get our heartbeats to align

maybe if I start going to bed at 3 pm and wake up real early
it'll be enough to share sleep with you
that's probably silly though

instead I'll look up at the moon
I'll tell her every little thing about you
at least sharing the same sky will always bring me to you

I wish I had a lasso big enough to throw around the moon
maybe then I could pull her down for you

If everything was right with the world and I could begin to give you every wonderful thing
I'd start by giving you the moon, the stars, and the sun
I'd give you the cosmos, glittering and shining
I'd give you every rainy day and thunderstorm, evenings spent out on a porch my hand in yours, listening intently to lightning crack
I'd give you all the birds
I'd give you a future, I'd give you a home
I'd give you a green couch and my head on your lap
I'd give you love and love and love

my heart trembles,
sweet piano trills when I gaze into your eyes

and when you touch my hand
dear God, I can hear the horns soaring

and being held in your arms,
I feel the strings buzzing and humming inside me

your gelled nails run through my hair
and a soulful timpani rumbles in my chest

oh Love being with you
puts entire orchestras to shame

you must be my life's magnum opus
the sweetest symphony to ever sound

A year ago I asked my therapist if she had any advice on how to live Catholic and Queer
today the revelation struck that my macabre upbringing has formed me for adoration
I learned in church how to anoint myself,
how to love in purity

and so now I love Her reverently, She becomes a pendant upon my forehead
I need no pinned scroll to declare my love, neighbors simply look into my eyes and read my true affections
for She is always on my mind

and though I have no personal angel to purify my mouth with burning coal,
my lips still burn for Her, yearn for Her
solely speaking in sweet Benedictions for Her

and like the stiff-necked Hebrews, my soul and spirit are split open in Her Presence
my very marrow fills with devotion and I fold
wholly Hers

and so I love and exalt Her the only way I know how
with consecrated mind, lips, and heart