A Poem: Before and After

i’d rather have you,

every groggy morning,

kiss my stomach

through (your) thin gray t-shirt i threw on

than hear the sound

“iloveyou.”

go on and say i’m crazy.

still.

*****

when times have

tiptoed off

what do we have

but contour memories

toast crumb words

crudely reassembled.

all i gathered were sensations.

and will the skin forget?

This article appears in January 2011.