Tap lightly, and everywhere

beneath an awning tinkling with raindrops

Kiss the back of a slender petiole

Whisper sea-secrets into a shell

Admit what pales and what thaws

Dance until the sweat soaks your hair

Search out a new queen

Scramble them and think––

the words for that one thing without an end

Protect it, the light on the wall

Scrub the heavy storm air

Drop fears and shame

Scatter them like ashes out the window––

fibs and edits that snatch identity

Taste the motion, even as you walk too fast

Cage the lion who prowls in your mouth

Close upon the words, then a rose, then nothing