you drown alone
but i dive in

to sing a spell to march
through waves
to call and call

until you stand before me
with an oar

two candles
burned alone
upon two desks
and carefully
they spent
each other's breath

and one was tall
and one was small

and neither knew
which way to stretch
its arms

talking to you is like
   making love
in a deep well
   scooping fistfulls of oxygen with every word

   spinning into the soft earth
   to carve a path of fire

i want to be
punished
in your
smooth-rock voice

chastised
for coming too soon

Water

She heard only the beating of her heart resonating through the water. It was as if each sound began and ended in her eardrums but its echoes were small persistent streams spilling steadily out.

She listened. She felt a slight indifference that gave way to reluctant warmth.

The small oval of exposed skin left in her face began to shiver, to ebb, and to vanish.