day drinking [edited from 2/11]
you were the only one who noticed
that i speak differently to strangers
like dropping
a pebble
into a glass of water
ping
no kicking gravel across a dirt road for
the friends i haven’t met yet
no explanation
you’re looking at me,
dubious
well, i’m not sorry
for that, or
tearing things to pieces
bread? orpheus
my hands the wood nymphs
silence the sound
of beer labels, letters
be quiet
i don’t need you complete
to complete me
at a party i lifted your shirt
to see last night’s reddening
tributaries, pink
drying creeks
a map on your skin
of where i’d like to revisit
you stood shielding your eyes from the sun
your skin:
shark belly white
someone snapped a photo of us-
click
shirt dropped
you stepped away
the coldest waters i’ve ever been in are
lake superior and
your bed at four in the morning
when i can’t sleep and
you are grinding your teeth,
nervous even in dreams
you think i’m inarticulate
when i stutter i mean to say:
you are cruel, mercurial
nuclear winter,
compelling as rauschenberg’s white canvas
i want to carve your name into a tree,
you fucking two-faced
heartbreaking
bastard
but all i can do
is move my fingers closer, quietly.
