Love Poem for a Non-Believer

Because I miss

you I run my hand

along the flat of my thigh

curve of the hip

mango of the ass Imagine

it your hand across

the thrum of ribs

arpeggio of the breasts

collarbones you adore

that I don’t

My neck is thin

You could cup

it with one hand

Yank the life from me

if you wanted

I’ve cut my hair

You can’t tug

my hair anymore

A jet of black

through the fingers now

Your hands cool

along the jaw

skin of the eyelids

nape of the neck

soft as a mouth

And when we open like apple

split each other in half and

have seen the heart

of the heart

of the heart that part

you don’t I don’t

show anyone the part

we want to reel

back as soon as it

is suddenly unreeled like silk

flag or the prayer call

of a Mohammed we won’t

have a word for this except

perhaps religion