16

you stand
behind a wall
of silence

I sit here
and bleed
words

I don't know
which one of us
is wiser

but I know
which one of us
still loves

remembrance

there are anniversaries
that creep up too softly,
taking away everything:

in remembrance,
in remembering;

I remember.
do you?

Ides of March

getting over you is scheduled

for once in every two months –

pace yourself

in tripping me over:

I’ve gotten over you

in January just past;

mess me up again

on the Ides of March.

smile IV

is it not enough that I know  
the shape of  your smile 
against my skin?

must I know   
everything?

moon II

sometimes in the afternoons
I see the moon
hanging from invisible threads
in the sky
 
it has your name carved on it
always
 
but there is no moon, and there
is no you
the eyes sometimes see what the
heart wants

un-tender tableau

drawing out

the threads

of tenderness

we tear into this

hastily-woven

tapestry of us

turn magic

into everyday

abjectness

weave in

aloofness

worldliness

awkwardness

un-tender

thoughtlessness

breakfast II

baby, if this were
breakfast time,
I'd order 
you.

kiss VI

maybe I should apologise
for that time I kissed you
so enthusiastically
I thought we’d fall over;
positively adorable, really
if only I meant it –
we could have made
something of us

kiss V

did you think I

cared, really? –

that time I held you

and kissed you and

kissed you again...

did you really
think I cared?

how could you?

I barely saw you

for you.

February

this month brought me you,

heart-eater

after the chill of December,

January newness

conjured up out of thin air,

too suddenly

you were there – a whirlwind,

breath-stealer

you brought poetry and laughter,

in the month of love

touch-points of return

again you

have returned –

a bruised leaf,

not quite a flower

but just as beautiful

in certain lights –

at these touch-points

of return, I don’t know

what you want from me

– comfort, kindness,

a soft-word-caress;

you seek safety, solace –

but there are times

when even I

have nothing to give