Whatever it was
that made me pick up my pen
to write another line
of love, I ask it
to please stay,
stay for a little while
until I finish writing
his first name and last
Tag: napowrimo
One Day
My heart is often in pieces
but I know every single piece
travels to its rightful place
in the grace of this life’s unfolding,
and without a doubt they will come
back to me one day. I wait.
Devotion
Everything changes, you know,
including love, including us.
But there are moments,
like this morning, like right now,
like your eyes,
like devotion.
Love, Assorted
Some people write you poems – love poems
that could burn a house down in your chest –
they leave you breathless, leave you longing,
and then they just leave, so fast you could taste
dust in your mouth. Some people linger like a
fog, want to stay friends, want to come over
when they feel lonely. Some people forget
to wash the dirty dishes in the sink, forget to
buy milk, forget your birthday and the way
you used to laugh. Some people wake up at night
to tuck the blanket under your chin. Some people
love to exclaim, look what I have done for you!
Some people kiss to turn you inside out,
to adore every secret corner. They kiss
as if your lips were home, haven, the place
that they want to stay forever. Some people
kiss so they could go somewhere else, eyes
open, hands fumbling with your blouse buttons.
Some people can’t say I love you until
they’ve studied your past, the exes you’ve
dated, the mistakes you’ve made. God knows
there must be a war raging inside their soul.
Some people chase wild things, hunt them at night
for thrills, and stumble back to your bed at
five a.m., smelling of cheap booze and
strangers. Some people want to bake all kinds
of bread for you, stay home with you, cuddles
and warm socks, hot cocoa on the couch.
Some love is the fire that warms you through and
through, and you will never grow cold again.
Some love is the gum that gets stuck underneath
your shoes. Makes you walk unevenly for miles.
Becomes nasty. Becomes quite impossible to get rid of.
Roses
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A Conjugation of Love
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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.
Lately
I have been writing about us,
fervently, constantly, and endlessly,
so we don’t one day become memories – ashes
of a great fire that once burned down an entire city
in my chest.
Spring
Even when we talk, we share
between us an infinite silence.
Beneath all the small words we give
each other, “how was your day?”
“look, the sun is setting.”
there is a silence as patient as
the warm soil of a spring garden
under which seeds of desire sleep.
Full Moon
Tonight I miss someone but don’t know who.
I am homesick but don’t want to go home.
Tonight is one of those nights that I roam
through the streets, out of breaths, a restless soul
synching her own heartbeat to the rhythm
of the pulsating stars. Tonight I fall
into the unknown space between two
seasons, the lonely cocoon of October.
Tonight is one of those nights that I lay
myself down under the full moon, waiting
silently and faithfully, until I
soar into bright light as a butterfly.
SW Altair 