Forlorn

Forlorn
(For C.)

I remember the last time I saw you,
the sunset took too long to leave
and deaf stars waited patiently.
Your footsteps were paper boats
leaving an empty creek.

The scratches of the slow manner,
I signed my letters with goodbye
weave a blanket of tears against the earth.
A cross burnt deep with memories
fell on my forehead.
A symbol of purity you held
like the stars in your wrists.

I am dizzy for you these days.
Champagne and chocolate milk swirl around you.
My eyelashes are yours, our fingertips fold neatly
like love letter you never wrote.

I witnessed the sadness of this life.
A broken Venus
crossed the stomach of your universe.

Maybe tomorrow
the cracks in the amber sky would dance,
impregnate the breathless spacxe
you've torn in the world.

Liquid moons shine against my cheek.
Words find their way in my silence to tell you
how the wind sounds like on a dying porch.

*published in Women's Forum, Seattle Central Community College. Winter 2005.