Em-dash
I look for you.
I cannot find you

You, a watermark
just beneath my skin;

A page of text in
my mind, which

I choose to read
over and over, again.

You remind me of the woman that I have lashed
Until finally I ran her off.  God, I loved her.
But, she scared me to death!

I smell the sweet scent of pipe.  
In your quietness, the memory curls around my head
Like the smoke from one of your smoldering cigars.
Your hand, cigar still between *******,
Going up and into snow white hair, flickers
Briefly through my mind in the halo of smoke.
Then it is back to covering your intelligent face
With the latest newspaper, a barrier between
You and your world.

You do not see the criminal.
You say to me,

"You only see stuff that fear allows me to show."
You are the tongue of mass ******.

What was the motive?
In another cell a complex code casts you the victim.

We tie our lips up in knots
In order not to name the truths we know.

Glorious dots swirl above our heads like millions of
glowing bees as we spin arms outstretched.

The air is warm while the earth is cool beneath bare feet
And a light mist rises among the pecan orchard trees.

I want to keep this place living in our minds.  We can
Never grow old in this childish embrace of memory.

I like the strings you pluck.
They sound through me and feel
Like a low hum.

I love the rub of friction
As you squeak quickly to move
Across the bridge;

Or a bow sawing back and forth,
Vibrating in my jaw.  Running
Down into the soul.