Hands

It's amazing how the body remembers itself
You say, handprints pushing through the scabs
Your hands are the last part to relax
Always ready to catch the next fall
Tuck, roll and bounce back

I love you professionally with my hands but it isn't enough
We love each other with our whole being

Love is like a river
You can't swim in the same river twice

Charon death's boatman carries you to sleep

I have heard that if you give too many massages
Your fingerprints rub off

I rub my own feet, face, shoulders
Imprinting myself with myself

I wrap myself in this version of you

Love is like a river holding me up with thousands of hands
You can't float on the same river twice

Independence Day 2012

Fireworks fall from the sky
Gently as dreams
Rosy star of contradiction
Pursued by happiness

Are we ever truly independent?

Limbs spangled under the blankets
You fold me in your arms and legs
Strangers entwined in each others' smells
Spreading warmth

Is this what people mean by love?

Then you turn and cradle your cat
Imagining the sounds of distant war
As close as you'll ever get

The bookseller bemoans the end of journalism
As I lament the death of books
Under silent stars, writing myself to sleep