is it because I
have yet to taste that I have
yet to
           understand

of GRAVITATION —
I want you near just as much
as you want me close

I
touch me
on my palm
like I'm a flower
you mean to open

II
touch me
between my fingers
like I'm a sea
you mean to part

III
touch me
in my arm
like I'm a sheep
you mean to guide

IV
touch me
on my shoulders
like I'm a wall
you mean to hold

V
touch me
on the nape
like I'm cards
you mean to shuffle

VI
touch me
on the side of my face
like I'm braille
you mean to read

VII
touch me
on the lips
like I'm cherries
you mean to pick

VIII
touch me
on my neck
like I'm a glass
you mean to drink

IX
touch me
on my chest
like I'm a drum
you mean to beat

X
touch me
like you mean it

they only see the
tiredness in your eyes when they're
mad at you for it

I'm always stealing
glances and end up getting
lost in your eyes, or
is it the ocean — to be
honest, what's the difference

I don't wish to be
where you're not — your absence has
embittered life there

if you're looking for
CONSISTENT, search no more — I'm
                                  consistently tired

I don't understand
how you can be more tempting
draped, than naked — you

you — standing still, strong
like David and Venus — un-
drape me already

if you want to shut
me up, lock my lower lip
in-between your teeth

don't be surprised if
my heart is at the bottom
of a barrel of
flowers and pointy daggers
— mind the cuts as you reach down

tell me a story
who, what, where, when, how and why
I'll always listen

we had that one old
photo that always reminds
me how I wanted
to have kids with you, and you
did have kids — just not with me

sometimes people choke
on something edible or
wild — like his secrets

if I end up
                   dead
to you,
             I hope you'll keep all
the green bones left at
the funeral pyre — show them
to me the next time we meet