The ripples on the lake,

Alive, like children scurrying under their blankets,

Are deified by evening sunlight.

They are transformed from water to liquid gold with the twilight’s Midas touch.

I wish that I could be that light,

And have the power to make your eyes catch fire,

With only my golden touch.

I have emptied out my body

To house him in my chest.

I have carved out my mind, my lungs, my heart,

And bestowed them at his feet --

        to pose as my most priceless dowry.

But he will not accept my offering,

And he will not enter this palace which I have created for him.

So now my breast is vacant,

And I am not accepting renters.

Like a rooted sunflower that turns to face the sun,

My heart follows his path as he travels across my sky.

It cannot touch its beloved, because the sun is a billion miles away.

And if only its petals could reach,

The beautiful rays that caress that poor blossom from afar,

        would simply burn it to a spot of sizzling ash.

Like water through my fingers,

I can only hold you for so long.

If I drink you from my palm,

Water will drip down my chin,

And my lips will be left damp,

But I will never be filled

Because I can only hold you for so long.

My soul is made from the same substance as yours is.

It is thick, and pours slowly between us.

I cannot know what portion of my substance is you,

Because you have dissolved into me.

My liquid soul has encircled yours,

        and they spiral together into the upper air…

I lie motionless and feel the rocking

         as they dive through one another,

        then dissipate into the pool to resurge once more.

A Kiss         May 1999 - Copyright

Eyes closed.

I feel his breath in my mouth

And one hand in my hair

The awkward clinking of teeth

Is our only accompaniment

As I bite his lower lip

And he begs me with his tongue.

Like a crystal prism

That hangs in your kitchen window

And breaks the purest sunlight into a brilliant spectrum,

She broke her happiness into a thousand rays,

So each of us could see a piece of that light.

Like a sky-bound cloud

That spills a million raindrops to the earth,

She showered us with life.

And like a gust of wind

That blows a dandelion’s seeds to the ground,

Where they can take root to become something beautiful,

She helped scatter love,

So it could grow in all of us.