Sunrise Poem

6/26/24 10:21pm

You may struggle to admire the tree-blistering love inside of me

a self-inflicted ache between each rib

but I’ll write it out each morning before you wake

A trumpet of the things I would do with the whites of your eyes

wiping away a canvas’ promise and a fistful of

declarations Ideas I can’t seem to put in tune

Just a lapful more water than we thought

snug in two-tone keys

drawn together as friends acquaintances peas and crosspaths

never eyes and ears

never loving like lovers

Wounds baked in cherry-etched dishes but it tastes like

everything I’ve ever wanted to say you’ve wanted to hear

Curling streams of forgotten loves

I could never forget your sunrise poem

Three lines to keep you fed

Trees blossom or blister in gravesites next to our bed

Will you come to admire the unknown knowledge I’ve carved in our walls

if the whites in my eyes are no longer red

— ODH