The clouds get puzzled too

when the embrace of the wind is so strong

shredding it into far away pieces

that no longer know where their mother’s ***** went

and instead melt into the first open arms they find



So I am in your shade

a star of earthly dust and too many tagged wishes

weighing me down from the crown of the night



I look up sometimes

to the empty nests of sparrows

to the trodden routes of silence

to the lake of the sleepy buds

and I wonder what conversations they carried through the  night

and what smiles they festooned in public



Then I think of your embrace

and everything fades away

and in the corner of my eye i see a puff of a cloud

rushed by the arm of the wind forward

disintegrating into the blueness of the sky

just like a hushed firecracker

into one big embrace that I cannot claim to see.

I pretend you’re still here,

By keeping the sock drawer half-open

With one tongue slipping out



When I leave your favorite wool shirt laid out on bed,

Casually, almost

As a remainder of your whoosh washing movement around our bedroom

That always leaves me drenched in your rain



I pretend you’re still here

When I place your comfy Jesus sandals erratically,

Naturally,

By the side of the bed, although I stumble upon them

Occasionally

Although I seldom ask you to put them away

As an emblem of the chaos your storm creates



I silently call your name when I walk in

Babe, I’m home under my bitten tongue

The silence calls me back coyly

Too afraid to hurt my feelings one more time



I pretend you’re still here

But cannot carry it forever



The heat has already wilted away the roses you got me last

****** the air from the baby breathes that resemble my hair

And the dance from my curls

Dry washed your last worn button-down from your odor

On what do I lean now?

My books have shut down their ears to me,

They no longer allow me to be their bedfellow

They no longer welcome my sunken head in their laps

They shoo me away, with kind words nonetheless



The heat has given me his last notice

I will have to remove your coffee cup from the bed stand

I have to slip your book back into the shelf

We both know you won’t be reading it anymore…

Breathe, a poem for a newborn love
Jessika Malo Valentine

Breathe so I can breathe

For the wind that is stifled by a cloud

Breathe for the sun that has been bitten by the moon

Breathe for the amnesic river

For the tree that in its growth grows rather apart



Breathe for the dry words on my mouth

The futility of the morning dew on my cheeks, sometimes I rather not call them tears



Breathe for the ribs that cannot stop heartache

But hold the shattered pieces in patience



Breathe for the smiles that catch traveling dandelions and falling stars

Then print them on a lover’s wanton lips, immortalizing them



Breathe young love

Breathe, for nobody likes a stillborn…