Some of us have a need to feel the heartbeat of another
closer than words
not enough to possess a green lawn, metal chairs, bird feeder, smiling neighbors
would God smite those who despite their fortune, seek
a feeling indescribable and beyond safe?
As if skin were rent and removed and truly naked we stood
beseeching sullen Easter Island statues with their granite far away look
all those emotions burning within us like pins set aflame
rescued in the depths of your eyes, the glass of us tilted toward
setting sun and in elongation and distortion we thrive
maddened on the love of the other
where no amount of living could sate the need for discovering closer method
to gain entry into each others soul and remain there, clenched in joy
a place of belonging in a achingly cold world where
few things seem to gather meaning and much is lost when trees
drop their leaves in beds of autumn colors
I wish I had lived every hour of my life beneath you in the furnace
of our motion, when two hearts begin to forget they are separate
in my sleep I dream of your eyes and the words wrapped around me
I could not exist alone, walking dead streets with emptied stare
you are the life blood of my long sleep, I wake when you pass me by
the smell of your neck, how you speak with a slight downturn
to one side of your mouth as if amused
when you are gone, there is no tick in my tock nor
purpose to a day, I have spent too many years grieving lost things
you would be the last day on this earth worth waiting for
afterward we close our eyes and bid good night to this struggle
content that love has blessed us with one footfall, for many
never discover its map nor know how to open themselves
wide enough to enter a union where no one returns
we transform, as you and I, into bird and for our duration
sing from steeple high, the sound of us murmuring in dusk
transforming empty corners into circles
your hand on my stomach, mine beneath
that mad ache chanting her gentle balm
Some of us have a need to feel the heartbeat of another
closer than words