I am stalking you
You are drinking at night
and wallowing
and being swept away
in your melancholic
celebrated novel

The words
you wanted to savor
roll in your tongue
and taste
every
bit down to
its last literary
drop

But you're speed-reading
because on Friday
I will demand the book from
you

And maybe that's
why you needed
a drink
To cope with
the rush
the blur
of the bullet train
of brilliance
And it's making
you dizzy
teary eyed
impervious
delirious
depressed

And pausing
only to listen
to, and cry
over,
The Magnetic Field's
"Why I Cry"

I am sorry
I just want to
read
what you're reading
And feel your love and wrath
in my bones

I know you want to go
to New Zealand
And/or
Japan
I want to go to Peru.
Or any place
with string lights
And a cinema
and stacks
of dog-eared
gems
With you

And I want to
take a black and white
picture of you
in New York
Where we'll crowd
the sky
with our laughter
and
agony