& i see us

the tide comes in. a hurried ocean crashes

rhythmic waves of your perfume upon my cheek (&

your kiss has branded fire in my sleep). you have folded me like

origami; something paper in the tumble of

your arms{for this moment i defy the laws of physics

and my mother.} even when you whisper [love] your voice

can stain its burning chocolate sweetness in

the crevices of past and future.

i think somehow i'm more myself when i erase

my boundaries & slip inside of us; and i ponder how we fill our

dizzy lovedrunk toes with flirting & forever. and i see us

making messes that win ribbons at the fair; and i see us

flipping pancakes and the bird out of our highway windows,

telling half-true stories to the windblown auburn leaves (who crunch approval),

turning winter nights to summer storms and building pillow forts,

holding tiny hands in quiet moments in a shadowed room,

fighting back the demons with a cheese grater & broccoli,

smelling roses like the long lost rainbows just before the rain,

drinking all the finest wine and somehow paying bills

in summer sunshine & the peach nut muffins from the bake sale,

sitting down for christmas dinner at our multiplication

tables, science projects, drama club – and i see us

greying, walking slowly, smiling from our laps with wrinkled hands.

and i see me in a dress & all the flowers; scrapbook pictures couched in

love beyond this goodnight moment i can taste and write of.

the sunrise of a smile cracks and glints around

the nighttime of my face; i reach up to steal your lips

& swim the mirrored oceans of your eyes. i have

borrowed this kiss every night (my favorite library

book) & i return it now with something like a promise.

i can feel you deeply in my great pacific heart, & somewhere

beyond the sea this us is all we'll know or need.

the beckoning tide seduces me like death.