Barbara

with the last lines borrowed from Kaveh Akbar

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Tension begins here:

My bleed/my break

the line one curves over slopes

the crevice cascading two-pulicitous over an edge

the stream of over-consciousness squelched in bliss

Return with me now, 

wind humming honey

a touch filled with ache

when silence lingers in our throats 

You sit with me now

distance a year or two,

blue shedding where you peel

apart skin

lips devour rubbed lipstick

My dear my dear

let me give you some instructions:

 

sip slow

slow down your slurp

I ask sip slow

chew wide

allow flesh stuck in between teeth

to pour and pour and pour–

 

Excuse me, 

she says 

I mean 

hello she says 

Allow me to begin this poem 

allow me to tell you 

How 

 

[over a festering wound]

 

 she colors my mess like 

the time i expect sunrise

forevermore but keep 

opening my eyes to darkness yet 

I still can't reach 

the headrest in any car when i see

How she stretches up there 

body taken apart by years of weathering 

Sheltered pain in slight movements of

A wrist where we begin as love does

 

 [love breathes.]

 

She says

"I’m sorry. I’m sorry.

This may be me at my best."

now let the poem end