let me begin by saying

it was not a coincidence 

that we came together 

blooming 

like warm roses in the fall

with our fingers curling 

around each other 

like old paper and peeling walls

like a map well used 

we came together 

accomplices in our ancience

a twin pair of star and sky 

with eyes of rust and tarnish 

perhaps it was fated 

or merely a spontaneous accident of history 

but we both wish it would rain

and rain and rain and rain 

until the windows are streaked 

and the wood will burn only smoke 

smoke that curls like our lips in the night 

as we whisper in that long lost tongue 

of wishes lost and wishes won 

we knew it once and now again 

it is a language that smells of campfires and sawdust 

seared steak and hot metal and welding fumes 

my dear we are guardians of this primordial wood

roots wound in branches and 

beauty so baffling that even 

the birds forget how to sing 

let me sing to you 

because this was not a coincidence.