CRAYFISH LOGIC

I saw you watch another woman lower her head
            to the splash of a water fountain as if you were tasting
                           the merlot of her lips. From the hollow of your throat –
                                                                               I’m sorry, and I thought

as long as we kept running, me on the cushioned track at the gym,
            you on the treadmill in the musk-riddled air,
                           we could still scuttle around the tennis court,
                                                                               shout love to one another.

But fear is an earth-bound creature,
            and the crook of my knees lift my weight up
                           the stair climber like a marionette.
                                                                               Nautilus. Naughty us.

If hummingbirds can fly in reverse, take me
            around the world so fast time dilates, and you’ll think,
                           in contrast to your friends,
                                                                               I’m in pretty good shape.

Glide your hand over the small of my back, my hips, my thighs,
            the curvature of time. Let’s float backwards as crayfish do,
                           out of the dangerous daylight, slip under
                                                                               the lace-fringed tide.

Barely South Spring 2019
Is It Hot in Here, Or Is It Just Me? Social Justice Anthologies 2020