I imagine myself
anxious and digested
in the belly of a 747,
constantly falling.

But outside this hollow cabin,
in the clouds, hidden:
i see the love of a great child
whose hand holds me up
as he runs the course of his backyard.

My fears
are a flock of blackbirds,
that swarm
the extremities of tree limbs,
but by your grace they dissolve into the sky,
their low caws dispersed by the brushing of the wind.

and there,
in a house finally my own,
no longer supporting there taloned feet:
i am thankful.

Come now:
as the night inhales,
and while the guards rest.

Wearing shadows
like loosely fitting robes.
May each footfall press
lightly, like a thousand soft kisses
across a long sleeping body.

Come now,
hold my hand
when the world, for once, is silent:
Al-Khafid, take this city.

you, my dear:
weighed heavily
on my heart today;
your sadness
blanketed me,
and encompassed
everything,
that had led us
astray:

the drunken
bath tub shipwreck,
and the cracking
of our compasses.

what maladies
only a year adrift could bring?

but you
having appeared before
like a bottle
that had washed ashore
sent by the sea
with a script
so often read,
that my eyes
would sore
over and over
once again,

with hopes
they were addressed,
just to me and my absence.
pulling apart every vowel
with deeper hopes
to pick apart
their meaning.

but between
your words,
and between
you and i,
and the half-filled emptiness
of our loose leaf lives,

i've heard
these tack-hung pictures tell:
of your voyages
and the other captains,
bound for hell.

and so
i sent this note
and map, in faith, afloat.
to help navigate
your journey back.

and though
today you did not ask
me for a raft
or for the truth:

yes,
even on dry land
i still hold my breath
for you.

i would like
to treat you sweetly
but you pull away your cup
almost on cue
your tongue extends
its protests
to sugar
mixed with the caffeine
morning aches
of days to-day.

the world spins
like **** in your coffee
poured deeply in
like rain redirected
by the water drain
and still, daily, you wonder
from whence all this drunken bitterness
came.

my father says
you spread me thin
he doesn't want to see me
dying over you

but my throat swells
with your name
and my heart throbs
with your beat

you only say
you miss me
the ground you stand on
is not a necessity

the liqueur
is your blood
for now the absence
is your love

i built you
eternity
but if that is not enough
please, feel free

to tell me
anytime
now.

posed on the rocks
my madonna

twists her ankles
and knees in

the whitewashed
masterpiece

unpainted
and uncertain

the waves
lay siege

they only want
to lay under your feet

a thousand voices
assail from the sea

they too, like me
only want to be slain

by unending beauty
still unconscious

to me
and a clothed manufactured happiness

the wind
only wants you to undress it

and bare all its love
in nakedness

and just as the forest
dances

to be a gleam in you eye,
jamilah, so do i.