erotica without you

dilequesce

your face warm against the curve
of my neck. a palm, a panic, a circuit
breaker, closing, when we are
the beating of wings in cove. your nude

foot balanced on the rim of metal
outside a door that opens at a word.
the word is look, the door is yes. lips
fold into my heart, a strip mine. the no

that i could not say. powerless
in the wan sun, clouds with fire
inside, mouth on my thigh. your wrist
a river, banking in flight. the creek

in your arm, the water of my body.
the questing banks we follow with
a snorkel, a mask, a school of minnows
that tick frantically. explosion.

the slow melt of snow over crocus
in my eye, falling into yours.





)(***

she stands

on tiptoes reaching for the sugar
in the upper pantry. her shirt rides
up above the belt line exposing
skin. a smoothness found in opals.

she places the sugar on the counter,
sticks her finger in her mouth.
sticks her finger in the sugar.
sticks her finger in her mouth.
sucks the sweet. her eyes

have lashes that whip. her eyes
escape to venus on the back of a submarine.
there is an answer waiting under the table
against the tile, where cold fire kindles.