wooed

how could I think--that you didn't love me?

how could I think that I was on sufferance?

the eucalyptus clasps my eyes

and draws them up into its shaggy embrace

they are passed,

from limb to limb

                        up the hill

     the grass, less proud

cradles my boots

soft as flesh over bone

the shade brushes my shoulders

I see your teeth 

in every flash on a windshield

every glimmer

              of dusty wings

your lips cannot be far

they are all around 

        when I could see nothing but my sorrow

running along the lines of the gutters

I wept only with my pores

and the breeze swept across them

bringing only grief--sweet and chill

      --you were kissing me

      in the dark behind my eyes

---

vision fades

memory unravels

but the lingering pressure

will drive me home