we mourn much,
much more undisclosed

         with primitive instincts
     bones rest around the fire
          for hours warmed
        in contemplation of next words

and then no words
a heavy silence
circles our gestures
we are careful of the edge

I imagine bending back
           over his arm, stretching
toward a disordered bed
     filled with afternoon sun

2
Into my arms
she drops shells she gathered
until, lured by the water
she moves apart from me

these treasures
fall to the sand
forgotten
and swept by surf

I do not remind her of the loss
but adore her careless heart
    -- she loves so fiercely
                 and yet soon forgets

3
there is no misfortune
in the accidental brilliance
of the deaf-mute 

  the gift of speechless seclusion
       and unshared music of mind
   quiet static of oblivion

to never hear a prayer
a broken promise
or the sound of your voice
for the last time 

the true beauty of words
is not the consequence of them
but the silence without them

4
In your new winter
the trees are barren
         earth covered
     by ice and snow

  where you sleep
alone              with cold hands
frost on your tongue 

     in your glacial bed
           no lover warms you

I want my sunlight
   to melt you
into nothingness

5
    ... and still
it's every night
or sometimes, morning
      my mind clutching like talons
           at the tender bliss of memory 

      missing you
  in the winter
in the taste of smoky wind
  and fingertips of dream

I drink oblivion
      and fail  even then
to find the empty quiet
of my past 

             understanding nothing
                          but that you are gone

    and still...
I can't recall
       the last thing you said

6
Like a stain
of uncertain origin
on the last page      Cut out me 

  rewrite new ending here 

   if only Love -- 

       (but no
   it never would)

because it conquers
nothing

and words
once softly whispered
have become dense
black
and obliterating

7
you speak of rain
    like tears

submerged
I gasp against you
holding too tight
   into my own depths 

tempted by oblivion
to fall into a dream
where you
don't touch

     There is no rain worthy
       of your love 

8
silence is like a prayer
whispered to no one
in the solitude of dawn
the cathedral chimes
sift through my shuttered window

disturb the ashes and dust 

    the walls remember
        and weep the sound of bells 

I am wrapped
in tangled linen
secure in my shroud 

9
  Your pages
     so often read --
        plot discovered, dog-eared
  and coffee-stained eloquence spent

I recall the story
that always
ends the same

You could be shelved --
       kept against the day
when I might rediscover
something in you
          that I always loved

But I decide instead
to burn the book

10
words rain down
like a hail of bullets
bloody vowels
lodge deep in exposed heart

this is what you wanted
  no accidental shooting 

the turn of phrase
that turns soft and then loud
a profuse bleed of sounds
four letter love and rage
and fuck that noise 

      target obliterated
      by the art of precision aim
      and yours is beautiful

I'm walking wounded
I don't feel anything now
and three little words
drip from my mouth and
into the whispered air --
      Leave me alone.