This useless suffering
that strains to pull away
and pulls you with it.

Only cards, your card:

Inevitable flowers
near a girl’s lips
pouting slightly
and her nostrils testifying
to a hidden perfume
neither of us knows;

a man whose blurred face
forces me to trace its lines
and lose them under paler shades
indefinitely fading…..

Only words, three fives,
and finally your message:
painted masks
could not destroy it.

I force words, proudly boast
the nothing.

Only you,
your voice, your love in gifts:
expressionless, expressive.

Diamonds crack.

(from "Poems People Liked (2)")