i.
But inside where the mighty walls
shut out light and
shut out dark I saw
the pink pastel paint
peeling like a worn-down flower

And I would ask you if you saw it
but you saw only the
chatoyant leaves that said
life is short
and you would ask if I
could stay longer

Could you stay longer—

I.
But the leaves don’t change there.
They sit on those trees and hold
and hold and hold
to hide the things that God won’t see
in a darkness that makes the moon smile
a sinister smile
in the curdling darkness
where we exist

Where we saw each other
and crackled our blood on
your-my lips, your-my hands
you’re my first time doing this
you had asked if I want love
and the want sticks to me
like a honeyed shabakia
but we both
heard them say,

Of all the creatures in the world, you approach men?

ii.
But inside where the towering walls
let in light and
let out dark through
the window I watched
the edge of the sky
quiver like a hidden sorrow

And I would ask if you remembered
the windows where we
first met in the bus rides
I would watch the trees
dance on your reflection
trembling in the half-light

Do you remember—

II.
But the trees don’t dance there.
Those gnarled limbs snare the sky
with their bone fingers such
blinding silhouettes
such blinding silhouettes that you
cannot see the stars cradled
in the darkness where
we do exist

Where the trees shivered suspiciously
and I saw the edge of your mouth
stretch a sadistic smile across
your face like cellophane
you had asked if I had money
and felt my empty pockets
and I saw them sift through the trees
like insects saying,

God curse those who do as Lot’s people did

iii.
But inside where the plastered walls
seemed both light and
seemed both dark I saw
the pallid crescent moon
blooming like a nascent flower

And I would ask if you knew why
my eyes had been so shy or
why the trees whispered in my ear
they’re all the same
and I would look away from
that darkness in your eyes.

Do you know why—

III.
But the moon has no mercy there.
It watches our corporeal souls
shrivel and shatter like
dying stars
dying stars that fade
into the darkness where
we once did exist

Where the black desire found us
and splattered my blood on the
ones without faces
you had asked if I was afraid
but I scowled at the moon instead
guilty in its complacency such
a desolate moonlight washed over
me  the kind that said
you’re here but no one sees you

And only in the acts of remembrance
are you ever heard.