despite a northern reserve
i am falling in love with you
and i don't feel afraid
something new though it feels familiar
i must repeat that everything has a far stronger effect
the first time it happens than on subsequent occasions
soon it is spring in your eyes
a human sea
we stood awhile and breathed in
the calculated suburbs,
exiles among exiles,
and other worlds and phenomena of other proportions
your edges grow uneven
stronger than anyone wants them
a gauge for measuring the passing time
black strands curl into your ears
i long to see them lighten in the summer
golden under the movement of the lake
our bodies drying in the light
your name still special on my tongue
your skin still burning my fingers
the moon grows and glows,
men wait for letters, crush bugs
curse officers, swap dirty stories
all as i recluse into myself
like a dying man
forgetting how to sit in his recliner
i ask your ghost to please get the mail
in the same way that striking a match smells of a birthday party,
loneliness smells like death does
there are men in offices who are dictating potential
sending letters embellished with a stamped signature
igniting the beginning of an end
are we lost or do we still have a chance?
tell me how we aren't just loving because we're lonely
and tell me again how you like me because i make the world soft.