To the One Sleeping with Me Tonight

When I cling to you like a child
Frightened of fireworks, hold me
Tight until my skin on yours perspires
And I roll away, opening us up
Like the shell of a steamed oyster.
You may fake orgasms but please
Don’t lie with kisses. Mouths can tell
When breath is withheld, the way
The seashore knows when the tide
Has drowned in its own shallowness,
The beach ball sun adrift beyond its
Own horizon. Sleep on even when
I get up suddenly before dawn. Don’t
Worry; I have just gone to the next
Galaxy to pee. And for the light years
That I’m away, don’t look for imported
Cigarettes and matches inside the side
Table drawers. Only impaled promises
Lurk there, of the kind lavender-scented
Candles and aphrodisiacs are made.


(First published on page 179 of the CCP Literary Yearbook, "Ani 31.")