Along a fire’s periphery, I speak
into residual silence where my words
are heard beneath darker whispers,
and all I desire dissolves into effluent
chatter like the staccato gossip of gulls
gliding near the sea’s vague edge.
As within this morning’s warmth
nestled in tangled bed sheets draped
against our bodies, our words take
shape against the shape of each other’s,
forming, like smoke, loose patterns
which trail behind in subvocal trains.
(January 24, 2022)
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