This Weight

When I close my eyes in darkness,
I feel this weight.

"What do you see?"
"How do you feel?"

The night is cumbersome,
counted out slowly. I have
gathered my patience
anticipated your next move
and realized what is to come.

Softness

She is flooded with softness
and softness can undo a man;
break him to his barest parts
or restore him
to what he was once before.

One Last Dance

All I ask:
to be hip-handed
and locked in tight.

One last dance
to bring me through
long, dark nights, a string
of memories to forget.

One last 'I love you,'
All I ask,
heart-felt and whisper-sent
to know I am still
with you.

Giantsteps

Am I asking too much?
I know...giant steps.
I will give what I can.
I will let you roam.
I will give giant steps.

Just give me a moment
Just let me in.
Just tell me what you need.
Let me know if you cannot handle
These giant steps.

Kisses Like Pearls

Kisses like pearls
make wet circles along my back
and ease precious pains.
Sometimes the only consolation
when the rest of the night
has gone astray.

Green Grapes - Frozen

'Close your eyes,' I ask
After a bottle of pear wine is tipped
and we are alone.

'Don't cover them, just close them.'
She cannot handle that sort of anticipation…

I pull green grapes – frozen
from the ice box downstairs..
'Open your mouth,' I ask.

Her tongue comes to the gentle flesh.
She holds it in between her teeth,
letting it melt

Soaked in September's sweat, her nightdress
curves over her bare brown body,
One hand drops over the curl of her shoulder.
One hand pushes the cotton hem aside.

We pull together, her kiss devours me
one last time. Within moments I whisper, ‘I love you.'
but I am scared
I might be lying,

Shorthand

We share a common language
a brief touch – connected
by words.

Nuances provide
the affair, taken up - by friends
borrowed,
bartered,
beloved

Hooch

We smack - We flip
We twist and turn
we kiss and burn
we wait till we
can be somewhat alone.

Couch, corner, wall.
skin, hair, hips.
This push,
too smooth, to soothe.

it's good, it’s bad
it's sweat, it's sweet
and it's for keeps
It's ours
this hooch.

Patch-worked Cloth

Love like patch-worked cloth
is torn and fixed again
made anew or left to fray

Vagabond remnants find spaces to fill
well-worn reminders that
it's never too late to make amends.

But this tattered quilt
with holes for fingers and toes
to climb through still surrounds us
when we'd rather not sleep alone.

Unlike Anything

I imagine her body drawn against mine
or the sweet stagger of uneasy conversation
and the smooth jewel of night;
a string of dreams

For her eyes, they are unlike
anything I have ever seen. Undefined by
daylight, twilight, and summer haze,
Those eyes deny one-hundred sleep-filled nights.

Unlike star-filled evenings or lingering sunsets.
Inescapable, the fuel of poetic fires
her eyes are unlike anything I have ever seen.

There are dreams and visions
that never equal this this cautionary moment
they keep me lingering and wondering
what sparks the fire’s gleam because

Her eyes are
Unlike anything I have ever seen.