i take Solitude by her hands
and tell her, i'm in love.


fingers ripened by
moonlight, milky
and cold, like stones.


my skin changes colour
when she touches me.
it hurts, lately.
i wilt, i pray
she doesn't see.


but the dark, heavy
gloss that becomes
her eyes.


i distract her, sometimes
the truth works, too.


i take Solitude by her hands
and tell her please stay.
i tell her don't leave me,
i tell her i need you.


she calls me a liar, she says
there's no more room
for me in your heart.


it's the way you look at trains
until they are no longer.
you wait for the tunnel
to swallow.  


i've never taught you that.


you think i can't tell?


how you watch the marquee
for anyone else but you.
god, i can hear you so clearly.
"that's the one you want, sir.
it leaves in four minutes."
but please, won't you stay
a little longer, and
speak with me?


it's the way your body responds
to the doorbell, she says so
quickly, too quickly, it gives you
away, even if it were the devil
himself, you would not hesitate.
but please, won't you stay
a little longer, and
speak with me?


i take Loneliness by his lips
and tell him, this should be
done slowly, i tell him
to be careful with her
colours and lovely guts
and creeks, that lazy water
happening, happening
when we sleep, i tell him
that i need her but
i don't know how
to need without
wanting any more
anymore.  


i take Solitude by her hands
and tell her, i'm in love.


teeth get in the way and
her eyes close, she says
i cannot feel you.
you've already left.


i take Loneliness by his lips
and welcome him, inside me
a storm steeps, cloudy
and somewhere else,
a fire, snapping.