Should Have Been Goodbye

finger to invisible shutter,

our joy trapped in the frame.

a last moment- 

maybe our very best. 

the final verse

in a love song

we should not have begun.

the dust floating down the shafts of light

and the hum of the coffee pot upstairs

should have been the only witnesses

in the morning after haze.

still tangled in sheets and sleep.

you never would have heard the third step's creak;

the only whisper

of my should have been goodbye.

Long Distance

days tick,

the phone clicks.

you flake,

i shake.

by omission you lie,

and secretly i cry.

we self medicate,

our friends commiserate.

where is the romance

in long distance?

Bareback Canter

fingers woven to my white knuckles

in his multicolored mane,

carried only by what ties his bones together.

he leaps,

and for a moment my heart floats 

until again his hooves press the ground

in a familar waltz.

to the powerful rhythm

years unwind slowly

from my tired body.

first words

your lips crack open,
voice husky,
raspy
from last night's booze
and cigarettes.

"i love you."

the words slip,
sink
into the hot air between us,
and draw me back
from the solitude of sleep.

"i love you, too."