So You Know How To Find Me
Are you not afraid to love me?
as i fit my palm against your heart.
Do you not fear my tenderness?
as i begin to love the parts of you
that you do not.
For there is no version of my heart
that weakens as i learn your name,
and though i do not fear you
perhaps it is my failure to speak to you this way.
So i shall make in my heart a constant revelation
that you are very close nearby.
i shall make of my love a deadly innovation
that your soul desires mine.
i shall tend my body to the fields, and to the grass
i shall speak with the birds who know you best
and carry always a sparrow in my breast
so when you see the bird you recognize my chest
and in a patient love, somewhat at its own behest,
our bodies shall meet
at our soul’s address.
Know that i would like to suckle cherries
through your evening skin,
for when i see your art i do not feel misshapen;
my lungs fill up with wet green leaves
and slow the wish within.
Not now in these words, nor now in my mind,
but in your chest my love resides.
and though i cannot touch your cheek
with my hand as i write
nor look now into your reading eyes,
i know, one day, you’ll walk somewhere
and i will walk beside.