The day he left we sat barefoot in the dirt, leaning against an orange
blanket, waiting. He dug his hand under my shirt, resting it
beneath my bra strap. He said he loved me. Or he called me beautiful.
They were the same to him.
I remember him smelling like laundry
detergent, his feet making lozenge
shapes in the dirt, and the tears,
his or mine, that crept into our kisses.
I loved listening to him breathe —
wheeze silence wheeze.
We would drink red wine or play scrabble or read Anne Sexton
poetry. Always Sexton — the only poet we could agree on.
“Maybe we would like each other’s poems,” I said,
my naked foot stroking his leg.
“No. You would see too much in mine, and
yours, yours, I’m afraid I would hate — cheery rainbow pieces,”
he said.
I saw his chapbook at a friend’s house today.
He wrote this love poem:
“The most important part, I guess
is that I love you –
the vulnerable way you can be at night
when you are falling asleep
and we hold each other
for the first time that day.
I’m tired of hoping
that you will become someone
new to me the following morning.
Someone worldly, or good for me.”
I tried not to see too much but my name was the title.
That night I wrote him a bedtime story:
“Maybe when you fall asleep tonight,
you can dream about yourself,
broken repeatedly then put back together —
a dream that includes everything you’ve
done to me. Maybe feeling what I feel
can change you.
Or maybe, just maybe, you can slip into
your sleep and stay there.”
Cheery rainbow pieces indeed.
—Lissa E.
inspired by totally optional prompts
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Embodied Heart Mind 
Man. Yet another fine poem. And I simply love the picture.
I tried cheery rainbow type stuff a few times. They just don’t work.
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Cool double portrait through each others eyes poem. Multifaceted vision giving multidimensional characters. Cool and a nice ending indeed.
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Clapping….this is very good indeed, the way you’ve fused it, beautifully, it’s measured and oh, just delicious.
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nice piece– 🙂
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this touches me–
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oh i really enjoyed that.. funny isn’t it the wealth of duty applied upon us by others.. and here we are,, just wanting to be loved……
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So beautiful.
I adore this line, scattered amongst the delicious details: I tried not to see too much but my name was the title.
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I love love love your writing… it always leaves me somewhat lonely and longing… it always makes me feel.
Love it.
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“that you will become someone new to me,
someone worldly or good for me”…omgosh!
this is what i feel someone feels about me,
that i should someone change yet remain the
girl he writes poems about.
as always the delicate way you write makes
your poetry that more profound.
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Wonderful writing….of course.
Maybe when you fall asleep tonight,
you can dream about yourself,
broken repeatedly then put back together –
a dream that includes everything you’ve
done to me. Maybe feeling what I feel
can change you.
Very thoughtful..
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You’ve got a real talent for capturing voices and setting scenes. I like this a lot.
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and my soul retreated to a familiar space the entire time of reading this one…
piercingly deep~
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