full of moxie and viscosity

a stupid love poem

I'm so sorry that I am crying right now.
tense tears
push out like
grocery carts full of emotion.

You unzip my skin
since my clothes are already strewn
on your carpet.
peeled petals, stamen exposed.

You finger my veins,
watch as I can't stop my
skin from sliding.
I pull on the waistband,
struggle with sleeves of flesh
but all is futile.

You forgive a hundred sutured moments
that you discover in my exposure
and beneath you see
my salvaged sentimentality,
preserved.

And here is the rub.
You don't turn away.
You don't find a greyhound excuse
or a hackneyed trapdoor
to route your escape.

You stay.

You hold that tender, road-weary little
heart of mine.
(I cringe at these cliches but
know no other words)
and stay.

Careful, slow, you wipe the tears
from my fevered cheeks.

I'm so sorry that I am crying right now
my grocery carts
crashing into you.
I'm sorry, so vulnerable and sorry.
I'm an exhibitionist! Why am I suddenly
so humbled, harrowed
by this vulnerability?

method slows. Your hands, still steady.
focus sharpens
you are watching me
you are watching
the carts line up
emptying into you

I grasp you everywhere.
Desperate, I am weeping.
I leave that greyhound ticket
within your reach
but you stay.
You stay.