POEM - Hearthfire

Lie to me out of habit

Tell me how happy you are to be

towing the line of a bland bottom

Make me doubt the obviousness of it;

of you being the only color left

in that shared universe

  

Lie to me with such believable bravado;

whatever keeps the alluring light of your star

warming me like a summer cocoon

For I no longer recognize myself,

save this tireless yearning for you;

which is a return to the unbridled zeal

of my younger clay

And I need you like a graceless spurring

toward that dreamt-of, desert oasis

  

Knock on the door of this empty house

with all the nervous excitement

of a fully-loaded rollercoaster car

Embrace me with your haphazard tan lines

as though you’re a kid who’s determined

to find a four-leafed clover

Glide barefoot through the hallway,

and try holding my eyes with yours while

the rest of your body is energetically unclad

Lie to me about that ocean of ache;

insist that diving into it is dangerous

Pretend you aren’t interested in finding out

how long I can hold my breath

beneath your white waves

  

Lie to me as you lie to yourself

Let the truth spill out of you by accident

And when you recognize that I’m

not ashamed of our naked flames,

perhaps we’ll find that the rest

of this world is more welcoming of us

than we dared imagine