I
arrhythmia,
the crocodile surface of this steamer trunk as irregular as my breathing
hurried while my fingertips run over the ridges of words or a beat of my heart
everyone's felt it once before,
in jealousy.
when your teeth scoured the valley of his upper lip

II**
weightless were the days you called me darling
and abandoned your clothes beneath my sheets
don't forget it was me who cooled your legs
keeping veins from throbbing with a fever from our tension
and skin from clamoring for more attention