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)