earring

I look for it, the dash in my ear lobe

and I thread it
slip a stiff wire through the slot

the metal and glass hang off me now

and it seems to cast a flattering shadow

down my cheek

like a black line at the edge
of a japanese print

I sharpen into a woman.

And I see the steady glare of it

The blinding strike of it

how hard it must be on other people

the parting red

and the cutting white

of a woman

Impossibly hard

and, oh,

so

graceful fainting

like the folds in a statue’s robes

I see a long distance

look in those eyes

That’s a woman too.

Smoke signals

saying all is well
always well

When she looks at me

I am in love,

I feel her like a lantern

Gripped at the end of my arm

Like an arm - catching me

Wrapping my waist from behind

before I fall

but try as I do

I cannot meet her stare

just a glance at her earring

is all my heart can bear

just the sight of her jaw

and that black line belting her in

Oh my dear girl

this is loneliness