I Stand Nearer to You

I stand nearer to you. Not you.
You that I adore,
will give my life to —
To you, to you —
Not you.

My love will shine like the blinding drops of summer, will parch us —
will overcome us like rain. Greasy strands of memories will
put salt on our wounds.

In the bitter rain, I will cling to you, to you. Not you.
You will be there when I am dry.

For in this indecision, I live my life, my darling.
Separating you —
You, whom I both hate and love.

Love as per My Mother

I breathed when your father breathed.
That’s how I learned to inhale long and deep
and exhale quick.
In a bed for forty years, one small bed, we one.

I could have chosen (Could I not?) to follow another man
Or lived like a fairy, sans
a man-
But, God, it surely felt good to make him mine.

Not in a quest to find love. No, no-
As it happens in dark halls, pages, in glitter rains-
With him- I- freed and tussled in a crammy bed-
Shredded each other for pleasure and pain.