just before the kiss
push me back into the world
like ghosts do
when the living get too close
the scent of skin
too much
they push away
because they long too much
for what they’ve lost
they want you too stay
in the world
you because
you don’t want to hold
what will be lost
I miss the tenderness
of being near you
your body soaked
in star and sea light
the sighs
from stroked shores
pirouette upon rusted blades
across scorched streets
dissolve into the spray
of their own sparks
rust and ash
pollen and snow
glass the gatekeeper
asks the sky
if they’re on the list
the ones
who hollow you out
leave a cave
for another
to place
a candle in
I don’t think about the thorns
I think about the blackberries
of your love
how they reveal the labyrinths
of my fingerprints
that touches the dark
trying to find your face
bright
as a blackbirds beak
light stuck
between your teeth
eyelashes
on fire
caves will call
to the sky
sky will become
ceiling
worn away with waking
smoke splices its tongue
more surface area
to taste the dark
took shelter
in the shadows
beyond the lamps
held together
by threadbare threads
my frayed feathers
stroke the sky
from the ground
a tree shakes off
a torrent of rain
dipped its head
in the sky
dandelions
became sunflowers
heads bowed
by the weight
of their manes