California

for Li

The moment you came close I knew 
there was an ocean inside you 
that I will soon drown in. I could 
forget everything but the sunshine 
in your skin, still warm, still warm
                                    on my tongue. 

No matter what happens, my love,
your body will forever haunt mine – 
all I have to do is breathe,
and I return to you, a land 
where red poppies and I bloom.
And when I kissed you in the rain, 
vulnerable yet alive, the sky 
                                  was no longer a sky, 
and your name 
was no longer a name.