A Poem: Note:

Reduced to their lowest-common,
the words I whispered in his ear
could be described only but in
reproduction—

The inflection altered here and there,
but what does an “I love you” do—

I’d say time is a river,
but language is its own avalanche
our coffin-envelope,
signed—sealed—delivered,
I love you.

This article appears in September 2012.