For the Boyfriend Who is Not a Poet

I looked down

At lopsided shoelaces

Wondered which I’d trip

Over first and there you were

Sheer cliff caressing the tips of my toes

I climbed down the ledge

Clung to and hung from the curling lip

Wild-eyed watching into you

I hang you there next to me

And tell you look but you don’t

See what I do // your eyes are

Filled with the chasm

Stage for bare feet, swinging

Until I realize you don’t know

How far you descend into me

Nothing is intended

To be enjoyed in its entirety

“What do you despise in me?”

You ask, anticipating,

Not the answer // I give

You sunburst, the first bite

Of a cherry tomato that doesn’t fit

All at once in my mouth //

I loose with equal pleasure

And perplexity:

“your absence”

Watch the contradiction resolve

Where my conviction flickers in the eyes

You take from me, chasm

We are watching