but you burn high

like a moth attracted to light

except you are the light and the moth

Wings, iridescence, shadow, sinew, flicker

you flinch, reveal, expose, and you attract

these dark marbled feelings inside of me

I have nowhere to lay them

no taut chain tongue with which to speak

their eternal gravity, moonfall

I keep them in check only

with the pressed thumb of the stalwort

who choke on their reduced emotions

like Kings devour poison

and create rose gardens from their disintegration

dig, reveal, sharpen, reinterpret, clouds swell

if I were anyone else

I’d grab you by the waist and not ask

grant nothing, leave behind, water stain on metal

yes it would go against all your rules, the ones I know too well

funny learning from others, the depths of you

and yet, like crinkled unfolding stars when they

smash together — become starlight

I think I’d take the chance

you’re worth itthe taste of your mouth licorice, brandy, woman

you’re not one of those who you can forget about

I stay awake tracing the high desert shape of your face

how your clavicles meet like winnowed apologies

and your legs hide muscle and power beneath skin

in the same way I have learned to dissolve

my feelings

those ones too sorrowful soaked in regret, for any audience

and those too intense for any revealing

your flesh, the trace of, pulse urging beneath

some things are better buried inert, dreaming, sinaitic

they’re too much for this world

when I look in the mirror and see

a tired-eyed girl with premature sorrow

there’s nothing there worthy of you

you — who shines like water in darkness

flint, erect, heat steaming in chill, arcadia trees

inviting, despite your closed eucalyptus eyes

it’s just a fantasy anyway

the thought of making you mine

of turning all your worn velvet rules inside out

until you cry raw and pull me to you

caught on love

at last

6 Replies to “Caught”

  1. To love, to desire such a one, that is easy. It’s almost impossible not to, but to believe oneself worthy of that being returned in kind, able to stand in a light so bright, swim in a tide so strong, that is hard, that challenges.

Comments are closed.