Night swimming
through the sweaty haze
of an ice cream tangle
your body, mine
dancing their exchange
in summer’s darkness.
I enter night’s hot mouth
still feeling the pressure of
your hands, your scents
my unabashed secret
joining echoes of the
thousand midnight secrets
shirtless restless masses
keep
while praying
to their fan blades
for salvation
as subway dins cut descants
through bar noise
and old radios,
cooked sidewalk garbage
bucks and grinds
with roasting chicken
gets tapped out by watermelon,
sleepless souls in bed
change soaking pillows
for the cool sweet mercy
of a Virgin
…sure, she’ll rise up
pale and holy
from this dirty street
but not tonight
oh please God, not tonight.
Transcendent Zero Press 