Later, you will wonder
how you never saw it
coming. When you kiss her
she tastes like salt. Her eyes
are full of water that you mistake
for sea. You talk of the birds
littering the horizon
and she murmurs *they’re
sublime.* When you hear
the distant rumbling you think
it’s thunder of some off-shore
storm. You drape
her in blankets
when you feel a tremor
shake her bones. And
then the dormant volcano
decides to erupt, as if to
punish those who thought it
dead.