XII**

Pretty white-feathered wine
swirls in my glass like the sea
and I can feel her watching me
watching her
as the time trickles through an hourglass.

From here I see
her flashing-train-car-window
freckles
smiling back at me
gentle origami-winged laughter
settles on my eyelashes
as her rose-red drink
stains what was once plain.

-Lord, that smile
like a stitched-up killer
of my mind
yet still philharmonically sound
I draw her near,
“Dive with me.
Stay with me.”