Contradanza

Contradanza

Tonight,

when you cut the fabric

& I cut

the dry trunk,

I’ll tell myself

that we were made

to find ourselves

under the bower

of poplars.

We would both

have our eyes clean

to look

at the good

of what remains in us.

I want you to

shower for my wet hands,

& then in the sleeplessness,

know me again

contingent and fleeting.

Whenever

I approached you,

I learned

that a man's body

is also a way

of understanding

the earth.

In you I always walked

crossing mountains,

tasting the exact flavors

of your fruit.

Let's walk

around the city

buy beer & tacos.

Or, get in my jeep

& be my flower

of smoke. Dance

like an agonizing deer

to preserve the memory.

of your footsteps

in the world.