Lying in the dark
The sheets wet
Skin stuck together like glue
I remember what it feels like
To laugh with my whole stomach
I remember what it feels like
To want with my whole body
You have unlocked this within me
Something I have no name for
A hidden corridor into my soul
Twenty-seven,
And still there are things about myself that I did not know
I think perhaps you knew them, though
Before we met
Messages on a black screen
I think you saw the truth of me
There is not much here, I worry
Just a pearl
And we have cracked me open to find it
We talk a lot about words
Trade our favorites
I carefully avoid saying love
You carelessly say you love me here over you in bed
“Every word in a poem needs to be so exact for the purpose”
“Every word should weigh a ton”
I read those messages like a poem
But I am the fiction-writer between us
“A mess” you’d say
“Your mess” I think
Amiss in this world of sharp and truthful things