subtlety

A Poem by Jared Orlando

Out of nowhere, a finger appears
Pushing my glasses in when they
Slide slowly down my nose as I’m speaking
Everything will then refocus
And I find her flaunting a smile that would
Bring entire nations to their knees

With my lips searching and pressing
Against the soft creases of her neck
She recoils, and lashes about
In wanting, like a child teasing
Saying no and stop when they want
Nothing but

In the middle of sleep she will
Lock her legs into mine
As if in dream she was
Spinning out of control and
Needed to be grounded again

She will wake and ask how I slept
And I’ll respond with, I haven’t.
Because I won’t tell her the truth.
That in sleep she stretches her arms out
Before dawn, and I want to be awake
To kiss them when they come down

The stark emptiness that lounges;
Small ghosts that linger around her
Toothbrush while she is away
We all smile together and wait
Until she is here to help me
See clearly again