kissing.

Two older poems, never before published!

1.

Can I kiss you? You ask.

I’ve been waiting twenty

Years for the question

And four weeks for

Your guts to muster

Some courage

We lean left; less than

5% of the population does

And your lips with

That irresistible freckle

Move, along with two

Sky-colored eyes, toward

My face.

And I wanted it and

I wanted you.

We holds hands like a

Kiss already, restlessly

Intertwining with tickling

Rub of thumbs

I did not quite expect

That softness of

Saliva and skin and

I needed to practice

So we

Tried again

2.

I like breathing in spiced chai

And pondering the photographs

In a national geographic

Published last December

I like sitting next to you on

Andrea’s bed, dorm loveseats, that worn

Leather couch at All Saints,

Diner booths

I like the green of grass splattered

In patchy afternoon sun

That reminds me to

Live, and thrive

I like the delicate softness of your

One-freckled lips as they whisper

Thankfulness and joy in an hour’s

Worth of kisses.