You're trying not to tell him you love him, and you're trying to choke down the feeling, and you're trembling, but he reaches over and he touches you, like a prayer for which no words exist, and you feel your heart taking root in your body, like you've discovered something you don't even have a name for.
Richard SikenI woke up in the morning and I didnโt want anything, didnโt do anything, couldnโt do it anyway, just lay there listening to the blood rush through me and it never made any sense, anything.
Richard SikenHe could build a city. Has a certain capacity. Thereโs a niche in his chest where a heart would fit perfectly and he thinks if he could just maneuver one into place โ well then, game over.
Richard SikenIโm not suggesting the world is good, that life is easy, or that any of us are entitled to better. But please, isnโt this the kind of thing you talk about in somber tones, in the afternoon, with some degree of hope and maybe even a handful of strategies?
Richard SikenAll night I streched my arms across him, rivers of blood, the dark woods, singing with all my skin and bone ''Please keep him safe. Let him lay his head on my chest and we will be like sailors, swimming in the sound of it, dashed to pieces.'' Makes a cathedral, him pressing against me, his lips at my neck, and yes, I do believe his mouth is heaven, his kisses falling over me like stars.
Richard Siken