i gathered you from the absence of night.
in thickets of sorrow,
among branches of bile taste
that surrounded your flight.

i melted in your sweetness, your sister sea.
i fathomed the depth of your ocean,
bathed in sea spray,
and i fell inward into your darkening waves.

all at once, from the distance,
i heard the roar of sadness,
rolling along peninsulas
that rested their tired bones around you.

i chiseled your name,
loud and clear, along banks of beaches.
i named you my kingdom,
my mountains- i offered your eyes to see.

i gathered you words, in the daily harvest of pain.
many times, i looked for you
in chains of passing clouds,
memorizing pillows that travailed in my sleeps.

and more than once,
i gathered your face to kiss
as it floated by and disappeared
among the flowering sky.