Photo Challenge #423

Photo credit Darrell Whiley

Her hands

gather like waves

and unfurl

against my skin.

Love has no meaning

without her.

She is more

than an ocean

can fathom.

She is for me

the love of all things.

There may be better options

but I cannot see

how they relate to me

when the fullness of her

occupies me wholly.

Her eyes are the stars in effigy.

She speaks in a voice

which quivers.

Her heart is a tempest.

Her hair, a halo

reflecting the sun.

Do not ask me

if she is beautiful

because there is no one

I could compare her too.

She is my muse.

I can see her

on the water’s edge

in a pink tearaway dress

beckoning me

with her whole body

like music.

In my arms

she retreats delicately.

I press my lips to her flesh.

She is supple

and full of laughter.

“Mistakes

are what make life

interesting.“

She says

moving against me

like the wind,

touching

but without leaving

a visible trace.

We dance

on the water’s edge

our kisses salty,

the sand beneath our feet

soft and dense

like an old love song.

We are perfect

for the moment.

A rainbow blooms,

beautiful and unfinished

on the crest of a wave.

Maybe there’s a reason

everything is transitory.

The specks of gold

in her irises,

the freckles

on her shoulders

I have counted all of them.

There is thunder

in our hearts

as we take in the rain

of our infinite yearnings.

We could die happy

and if that is not living

then there is no place

for me in this world.

I need only

what is inside of us,

the capacity

to feel my own sorrows

and my own joys

from start to finish.

If freedom is not

the expression

of one’s heart

then I do not know

the meaning of the word.

She may have power over me

but such is the way of nature

to follow what you crave

from one end

of the earth to the other.

Photo Challenge #423

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Stay

When our bodies

and borders

start to unfurl

like so many misshapen wings

Stay.

When the dawn

starts to break

and one by one

the last remnants of sleep

fall away

Stay.

When I shout

I love you

for no reason

other than the feeling itself

Stay.

When our bones

find each other on a path

not wholly of our choosing

Stay.

When I chase you

because my heart is too hot

and too heavy to grasp

Stay.

When I am watery

and too scarred/scared

to feel my feelings

Stay.

When the labels peel and chaff

and we forget ourselves

in the act of being together

Stay.

Too Much Space

Dawn breaks behind

my shuttered eyelids.

Face to face

in the dark

I have only

a sense of fire.

The widow’s light

blooming red and orange

beneath a veil of skin.

Will you love me

when my eyes are open,

when the bedroom

is only a room

four-corned and vacant?

Your lips bare down,

my mouth cracks open

with a sleepy grin.

I love the way

you say I love you

with your eyes liquid-soft

and your breath

inside of my mouth

like a kiss.

Sometimes my desire for you

exceeds my capacity for tenderness.

I want to ravage you,

to pull you to pieces

with my tongue and teeth.

I am five liters of blood

wrapped in velvet.

If I could

I would fold myself

around your body

and let you possess me

soul and all.

If we stretched

our skin and bones out

like a bridge

we still wouldn’t be touching.

Which is to say I miss you.

Which is to say there is

too much space between us.

It’s been a long time since I have written a poem!

You Are The One Wordle #200

Wordle 200

I sense you in the dark,
in the weight of stars,
in dreams both
evanescent and obfuscating.
I place my faith
in the realness of you.
You are the one.

I want more
than a breath can hold.
I want to capture
your prayers in my mouth
and suck them until bursting.
Soft and verecund,
I want to lick
the wounds inside of you.
You are the one.

I make sketches of your hands
just so I have something to hold.
I want to wear you underneath
the simpering halo of dawn.
I can’t fathom your touch.
You are the one.

I am lost in forever.
I am lost in the spaces
where patience breaks.
I don’t know why
I am in such a hurry.
Everything you do
makes me love you more.
I want to eat the hours
inside of you.
You are the one.

Cocoon

I wake to find you
closing around me
like a cocoon.
I want to hide myself
in your indentations,
in the heat of your skin,
in the gentle-hunger
of your for-me-only smile.

Tangled and tethered
I just want to exist
in the same breath as you.
We only have a moment
before sleep intrudes
but a moment is all it takes
to fall in love with you again.

Wordle #195

Wordle 195

I have not been
totally honest with you.
I have held my hands
to prevent my words
from crashing into you.
You are lovely as you are,
a confession wouldn’t make
you any more or less so.

The moon is so low
I have only to reach out
and I could take her
into my trembling arms.
When I dance with her
I think of all the ways
we could fall together.

My heart turns cartwheels.
I find ways to occupy my hands,
my time, my fragile, augean ego
just to keep my emotions
from my spilling over.
My sleeves are stained.
My sleeves are red and torn.
I pull the covers over my head.

The stars are so close
I can smell the smoke
rising from their golden skin.
Each breath is a prayer.
I count them under my breath.
I count them until
the numbers cease to make sense.

I spend my days
breaking myself down
with my fingertips
and a conjured image
of your gorgeous smile.
I would burn to cinders
if ever I found myself
underneath your body.

I am pretty only
when I am alive.
I have not been
totally honest with you.
My hands shake
even though they don’t speak
as my heart wills them to.
What is a goddess
if not a woman
overflowing with love?
I will keep my poems to myself.
I will wait until our destinies collide.

Promise

You will find me
in a cascade of stars
burning for each breath.
Brush my hair back
before my eyes
set fire to it.

Whisper
your secrets
into my mouth,
place them
on my tongue
without apology
and I promise
to swallow
everything.
There is
nothing
so dark
in you
that I wouldn’t
gladly marry it
to my heart.

I am my own
still I
wouldn’t mind
filling my days
and nights
with you.
I look at you
from a distance
that doesn’t make
a difference
to my soul.
It is strange
to say but
I know
I know you.

There is
nothing
so broken
in you
that I can’t
gather it
in my arms.

Love

I love the way
that loving you
makes me feel.
I love the way
I am when I am
just being myself.
I love the way
your soul feels
interlaced with mine
and infinities deep.
I love the way
you hold me
in the dead of night
without a stitch
of affectation.
(some might say
it’s just a dream)
I love you
whatever
faults or fault lines
you possess.
I love that
true love
makes it
impossible
to hide.

Texting

If only our words
could touch.
If only our words
were uncensored.
Without a body
to hold
I would love
to have
a conversation
with you
close as skin,
deep as the hunger
filling up my chest.

If only I could know
what you know
when your eyes
are eating
my texts
Words without breath.
Words smile-quiet.
Words thumbed
into space
like pennies
in a well.

I am
a little bit too
self-conscious
to deliver
my content.
intact.
How many
emojis
does it take
to get
to the center
of the human heart?
Maybe you don’t
like me anyhow.

If only you could
feel my heart turning
over and over
in palpable distress.
Would you be surprised
to find that you are
all I think about?

All you
have to do
is ask
I’ll tell you
anything
just don’t
make me
say it first.