The Living Room

The Living Room

you picked me up, swung me over your head,
and the moment i opened my eyes, i knew it.
blown my resolve to see to the end, i let you

block the hallway light completely.

you turned out to be the color of flying deer and
seagrass. the color of all the little creatures hiding.

it is my favorite color. you were the first time i

had seen that color of anything.

you held your brown skin up to me. we marveled
at the distance two ships passing must keep, in order

to pass. horns of freighters, percussive winds, your

eyes, northern harriers combined like the ingredients

in red velvet cake sun set your lips on mine.

you set me down, each tiny frog in a curved

line around the pond dove in, under dawns mountain.
i felt with my hands the granite carving. my hands

could see u better than eyes. we laid a bath the fawns

would use when we quit drowning out everything.