I speak your name into the night
my hands crawl across your sheets
and your body isn't there
I wait
the chill in the air puckers my skin
you've got a steaming cup
in your hand, as you come
softly padding in
the nights blue light
and your warm honeyed eyes
"Come back to bed," I say
"My feet are cold."
"I'll be your heater. Am I hot enough for you to hold?"
you climb in and thump my head


We waited there
Till the rays of light
Shined on our forms
Tea forgotten
Sleeping like two children
In a storm
Clutched to one another tight

i don't think i like nice people
i feel guilty around them
like my past stains me still
and they see it all

She's my water woman
Got an ocean in her eyes
And a well in her chest
She drags me down deep, all violent
I let her, for it's me who is blessed
inside of me, she cannot see my swimming heart leap
She doesn't understand
How can she when even just her hand
takes me to the safe place I crave?
An island. I’m surrounded by her.

We make love and she's a tidal wave
At night we navigate by touch
I've learned all her constellations
The stars she's made of
She's the fountain of life
Then she speaks
And I know why
Sailors were drowned
In deep blue seas
Her eyes find mine
She breathes like it's me
Who's the magic one
After, we lie warm and still
She says I'm hers
like I should have known it all along
I swallow my reply down like a pill
And she doesn't know yet,
The magic water woman,
That I had never loved before I met her
I had never loved anyone at all

her heart beats a tattoo
against my belly
her head rests
against my chest

giving love to a monster is taboo
and when she does it,
she thrills me
again and again and again

I feel better in the dark.
I say things, then, that I wasn’t sure of
before I said it

In the light, I tell them lies
But when I slip away into her room at night,
I only speak the truth

We met by accident
She didn’t make me wish for
         innocence
She whispered to me that things were better in between
  And she let me
     She begged me

Fire beckons me, but I’m in love with another
          warmth.
She’s too slick, but I love the sound of
       her laughter,
                her abandon.
She’s ready to hurt, but I love her
        protection,
                 her affection.
She offers me the light,
         and I love her darkness, too.


I want all of her, if she’ll let me see
I’ll stay, anyway
Until she gets sick of me

Her heel is adorned with rubies
her temple with sapphires
her calf is painted in gold
and her glorious thighs in kohl

The curve of her hip is tucked in lapis
the swell of her breast is caressed by jade
skin so rich she shines like onyx
eyes so warm she can make a man
    unmade

This is all she wears