The Other’s Breath

Skin bursting through skin—
In the morning, am I without?
Bedclothes twisted about my body
From turning after my beloved—
Where is the one who has touched me
In the dark? Arched back,
Slope of thigh, parting red sea—
The dense odor of two desires
Rises and slowly dissipates—
Burning away, as the sun becomes
My lover's vital mouth.

We are caught in the old web
Of saying the spinner is dead
Because the husk of its body
Has been eaten by the young—
But every night the legs interweave
With something that has more life.
Something near us in the dark
Whispers with an urgent voice—
Quickens with the other's breath.
Something beyond our own urges—
A lover beyond what we can see.