I
it crept
II
taunted by my submission,
hopeless sin love,
I smiled it awake.
III
“almost done”
( ^ nope )
said the woman to the men
carrying the tufted leather couch
to the top of her
glittering
highrise
IV
he took so long to come
but now every capillary
is red and pulsing
V
can’t imagine seeing you
without words
I would want it
VI
everything breathing
VII
she is all I see in an eternal orgy
her face faces eyes
while he’s in her
he, a mystery
but she is me
VIII
he was beautiful
he’s still in me
IX
seashells he brought for me
stained with my ankle’s blood
X
it’s just
sun on a page
until you look away at another man
with a suitcase
XI
as soon as I drank him,
I went into a trance
and knew exactly what to do
oh no my pages run up quite soon
didn’t know he’d take up so much space
XII
let
the
bug
go
XIII
everything else
the ink leaves out
XIV
slowly
he took
his time
with me
XV
doesn’t matter
what I do
it will go
XVI
he wouldn’t want to rush anything
all these weddings around me
a man sprints past
a woman poses
a boy in Doc Martens shamefully stuffs
a plastic checkered picnic blanket
into an overfilled trash bin
a little girl screams
“FLOWERS!”
XVII
all the leaves
I can’t collect or recollect
still fell
XVIII
two men on their way
with a gallon of cooking oil,
preparing love
XIX
eye contact with a skater
as he bombs the hill I climb
it’s all happening in front of me
while I’m busy writing it down
XX
back through
the same alley I entered
of course I can’t breathe
with my nose plugged
XXI
he gave me a poem
ericaavey.com 