For my girl who likes to dream of a house by the sea

Listen to the breeze, 
The dry branches scraping our kitchen window, 
Coyly, like the cat scratching the leg of the couch, 
Or the sound of little racoon paws on the back porch.
It is particularly windy this afternoon, I meant to mention
With my hands dipped
Into soapy water, 
And you holding me from behind, 
Laying kisses on my nape,
(Those lips I'd know as mine if I were blind)
But the tide had just risen, 
The white foam splashed the rocky shore, 
And I could almost hear waves fizzle like champagne
As they slid back into the ocean, sucked like magnets into the deep
     So out of respect I let them speak. 

The house smells of sea salt, cinnamon, 
And cookies that I let burn slightly in the oven. 
Forgive me; 
You looked so peaceful going through your photographs, 
Crouched on the wooden floor, arranging prints like puzzle pieces, 
A dim spear of light piercing you softly, a sun shooting its last arrow 
On this cold and cloudy day, 
That I forgot time existed, 
And resisted to tell you it was a quarter past the hour. 

The cork just popped, and the can just cracked open, 
And we sit by the chimney watching logs turn into flames. 
The sparks became dancers in your irises, I noticed, 
Like in tribal ceremonies; 
Your look is concentrated, yet serene, 
And I can't get myself to intervene and ask what you're thinking, 
And if colors look brighter 
With eyes ablaze. 
I know that I will love you always, I meant to mention, 
But a melon moon just started growing in the sky, 
Still a shadowy trace, and the night started to seep, 
     So out of respect I let them speak. 
LBCH

Life trembled
Within her, like an interrupted
Volcano, 
A ruptured, ravenous beast, 
Erupted - Pleasure - 
Passion, 
Pressure pushing heat inside her - 
Love - like lava, boiling
Beat by beat
           Life within her 
           Trembled
With splendored madness,
Courage combusted
Like Color in spring, 
Her restless feet danced
Wild, her arms opened like flowers, 
Dignified, like distended flags, 
A New Woman welcoming 
An ancient sunrise
Composing the tempo of a
New time
            "I will not admit defeat"
             Dance and repeat
            "I will not admit defeat" 
LBCH

It's the routine
Of the day by day
The Q like a rocket,
An express machine
Surfaces from the dark
Like a submarine, 
An enormous whale, 
Surfing the afternoon, now bluer with winter, 
Gliding past buildings,
Their windows lit
Like bright eyes
That must have seen our faces, 
And a thousand expressions
With no surprise, 
Silent observers
Of the ancient cycle, 
Living our lives
Under train times
Transfers, delays
Subways with no commitments.
We look up from our phones
Reassured of a world outside the doors, 
A last breath
Before we get swallowed by the tunnel. 
LBCH