When we look out the window we hear
there is a ringing sound that will never end.
Engulfed in noise and in dust submerged
tiny men walk a thousand steps        
Yellow -
the city has been yellow -
ever since the machines
arrived.    
Heat -
The november sun melts all the tall buildings
until the twists and turns
of the voice
call a break for prayer

Water spilled to streams of yore
Flowing down from the mountain wastes
Before the forests bore their first fruit
Or the stars illuminated their first night
From the deepening darkness
Sprang forth living water

The water flowed and pooled
Stretching out and gathering
From the four corners of the earth
To meet together in the distant east
A place now lost beyond our world
Wherein a great garden was planted

And where our ancestors were born
By the living water and the earth
Made of simple clay, of mud and dust
Yet imbued with a great power
A unity with their creator
That they may walk with Him

Side by side

i love you when we're alone
because you eviscerate me in front of your friends
but alone you kiss the veins in my arms
press your small hips into my hips & sigh into my neck
& blink so slowly that i can hear your eyelids whispering

you won't hold my hand in public
because you blatantly want to seem available to other men
but when it's only you & it's only me
we lie on our backs letting the summer rain collect in puddles
in our bellybuttons & you swear to god
there's only one way this can end

you say i can't meet your parents
but everything i do reminds you of your father
that tall strong man of your childhood
singing sinatra to your mother in the kitchen
just like i do when i sneak behind you &
tickle your neck with my tongue you're
giggling as i carry you like a bride
into your bedroom for naptime or playtime

you only miss me when you're by yourself
like a flower hidden in a fenced-in backyard
but you ignore my texts most days
because when your friends are around you're busy
dancing toward the sun & lying to them
about where you spent last night &
the blueberry pancakes you ate for breakfast
you don't mention the ticklish new rib spot i found
or the quiet music we make together at night
or the stars we wished on with our pinky fingers tied together

i love you most when we're sticky asleep alone
you humming in turquoise ******* snuggled into my armpit
with your warm hand melting into my chest
& me in the pinstripe boxer briefs you bought with
my arm under and reaching for your exposed breast

i need to stop
setting myself on fire
to keep you warm.