i was given the choice of an afterlifetime supply
of anything at all that my heart desired.
i didn’t much need to think: i asked, of course,
for fire.
lucid loving
i’ve requested help from
all the world’s rivers, oceans,
& beaches
to supplement this terrible
sweetness, this shot-through
barrel swiftly losing liquid
through all this loving lucid
the wetness winding into a sigh
these spiralling circles of desire
how is it to be doused
but still unbearably on fire ?
make it constant
you are insanely divine, i can’t even explain
i feel safe around you. i just know
you’re special, & i adore you
damn beautiful
i’ll tell ya a little secret
a lot of things can be surprising, really
but being with you ?
it’s a victory.
“you sure know how to make a boy feel…”
special, is what he said, before following it up with
one of the most divine things a soul could sing: you
really are very funny; & i know he’s probably humouring me…
isabel…
after the movies, but before the train station,
we hugged goodbye. i said, see you, like i always do;
unthinking, she hummed i love you,
then gasped. the perfect casual accident.
we parted ways in blushing silence,
my shock too thick to shake. though
across percussive tracks, an engine chanted
what i couldn’t…
you too you too you too
all the way home, you too, you too.
praised one
drunk off
the aura
around you
i murmured
better late
than never
replied panting
my professor
gaze of harmony
in every princess, a hunger
which razes every decent sense, &
all polite thought. a tremor, a
terrific earthquake of sudden need,
as urgent & frightening as any
self-respecting deity.
stumblin’ in
much unlike an eye, or light, this
bruise of ours speaks often. you’re
very special, you know, so energetic
against the tired world. now & then
i’m astounded that we did not meet
on purpose.
girl, delighted
2
two-two was too satisfying. too late, it
was, & two-two too chilling at two past
two in the morning. too much wetness,
& hotness: a transgression too far gone
(twice) & a pulsing also doubly-done.
a little longer & it would’ve been two-three,
or three-two, or three-three at three &
who knows after that. i’d reached two
first, too hazy & plunging to hold back,
& hers came quickly after, too blasphemous
to handle. how to continue ? how to get
accustomed to the two-two parallel
that split me so prismatically ? i’m too
worried for my numbers, too pampered
to see a single digit ever again !
the freshest leaves
honey, a while ago,
i knew you—in some other fountain,
some other life:
i may have been a princess, & you
may have been trouble—a cottage
in the woods, a set of smoke rings
in flight:
the float home is a happening tragedy
i crave an endlessly deferred night.
i wish i were a kitten
you can pet them / stroke them / play
with them / in the bath or / other choices
you can kiss and praise them / while they’re
in your lap / and making noises
a list of names to call your lover
1. darling peaches
2. your 2D shadow
3. midnight poem
4. a consequence of art
5. the law of increasing returns
6. Heaven’s apology
7. PIP (person in proximity)
8. lemon wedge
9. the culprit
10. part of your equation
11. your beautiful prime number
12. [lovingly redacted]
13. dreamlike representation
14. villain purple
15. the unmistakable truth
16. intoxication / soft incarnate
17. the word on the mouth of the universe
yes
O yes i told him yes
i Do want yes to touch you yes
right now yes i want to yes
yes i need yes for you to kiss
thank you october 2nd
city graffiti
the train feels like a lullaby. is there
a ghost or is that me ? music swirling
imperceptibly. i need to stop falling
in love with every stranger that has
a pen behind their ear.
the sky is out today ! just for you. or
was it me ? the clouds make soliloquy
easy. i can’t imagine being any more
tender. pressing on the obscure part
of the two-way mirror, setting fire to
a skirt.
this metal curve is a recipe for sea-
sickness. should i put you underwater ?
or wet you just enough to kiss ?
excitable type
there is too much love
in the world
to hold you back from it. i
wouldn’t dare
for every flower, i want you
a bouquet
& every sunset, i want
the blue ball into a flame
how can i help it ?
this loving of you
this ocean is madness
every kiss
just practice