My hopes are so high that your kiss might kill me, so won't you kill me. So I'd die happy.

[remmirath]

Seasons (or Constancy)
For ------ -------- --------

1.
The highway glitters with the rain
And it is not unlike
What I remember of before.
The tears of the sky
Writing on the glass
As cool as your cheek,
The smoke of your breath,
The nicotine on your teeth,
The mud outside
The color of your murky eyes.

2.
When it is hot and I am caked
With dirt and sweat and a film of talcum
I am back to a summer,
Forever ago.
Its ghost rises from the dust
Of old letters--
Apple hair,
Strawberry breath,
Sweat sweeter than the milk of the grass
Beneath our backs,
But at no time sweeter
Than the memory of that summer.

3.
And then there is bitter.
Umbrellas make their way through
A world of fog,
And through the whisper of cars and softly humming rain,
On this traveller's cheek
(To warm her)
A whisper of a kiss remains,
Short. Gleeful. Sweet.
It keeps her from freezing.

4.
The sky is pink outside
And the roofs of houses the same color.
I hardly notice.
Laughter drifts in through my window
On the wings of the wind.
I hardly hear.
I know the ceiling is white,
And the insides of my eyelids black.
If you asked me if it were raining or shining
I would not know.
I would not hear birdsong or the speech of the rain;
I know only the slow hum of my blood,
The exhalations of a racing heart.
There is no season here, inside,
No death of time,
No change of hour.
As the world,
Repetitive,
Continues its interminable journey,
Here the road does not move.
The ghosts of seasons past come and go
And memories with them--

But (madness it may be) this stays the same.

Composed 29 December
11.15pm