Maria Purpura
Sun-beam butter eyes
and a grin
only for the peeling pears and grapes
on the wallpaper
To hold you oh, so close
biting back my dimples from afar
I want a roadmap of every place you’ve felt loved
Your arm steadies
but everything else is
vibrating and numb all at once
your stability is the only frequency
when everything else
fades to loud
silence
And then I know
I’ve only seen one you
There in my victories like molasses
stuck
like sweet cement on slow mornings
or a bellied giggle in the wrong moment
These years of ours are ethereal, soft
blue-skied, cool grass you can inhale,
and feel but never touch;
too fragile even to reach
better to admire at arm’s-length
Even when finality saddens you
And if you’re here too, stay
as loving
as the sun, in her goodness
You, too, are good to dwell in