The flicker of light jumps
onto the pool’s surface,
into her mouth of kisses
and soft sighs.
Her pink lip gloss and
dimpled cheeks
peck your lips like they’ve
belonged there, always.
Like your breath has opened up
to call her name across laughter
and caresses, with hope
one day my name may roll
off your tongue.
Your name punches, stabs
pricks my skin with ten million silver needles
taunting the touches I once traced around
your body.
A once waterfall of syllables and secrets
cannot erase a pounding heart.
A nameless face reaches into my flesh,
takes my kisess, my desires,
pours them into your shaking hands.
A frozen mind put into a running body,
yet I can’t run far enough
to turn us into flecks of dust, flying
to the wind.
Your hands’ soft sweeps
across my hips
hold themselves in a picture frame
of poison black memories and sparkled dreams,
topped with coats of expired optimism.
A taste of my secrets left in your mouth,
as it transcends to whispers in her ear.
Leaving your lips free for new promises,
leaving your hands empty for brittle bones and
tan slicked skin
to squeeze, to never
let go.
As my chest slips into knots,
only hoping for time to creep,
to fill the spot where you once lay,
you soar.
Where two bodies bound, they unravel,
a knit scarf of lyrics and naive plans
never quite tied up,
only hoping not to move, not to tug the strings
to watch it whip back to where we started.
And yet--
I have pulled the opal blue string
of your eyes’ need to rest onto a calm, sure
face. We have tugged the threads
of worry, of distance, of threat.
A scarf, just nearly started
for bone chilling days, and shaking nights
has broken.