The bottoms of my shoes 
are clean 
From walking in the rain

then dares to paw across
Mother’s face, so
smilingdelirious.

I had kissed
Delores Jepps. I wish I could
have some small memory of her
warm and spicy mouth to wrap
these hungry words around. I

your swimming blood, joints
lumbering in shadows, the dolphin
clicking out to you, far above ground.
And we should feed just as much as eat,
says the heart your body formed around.

American bison overtake the field
filling a vehicle lane in early snow
obstructed I paused
To see it, their dark furs shaking enormous
out of trees they descended from the line of sky
respond to a much deeper instinct

every day: the ways
we were changed
by the gift
in someone’s touch—your body,
suddenly a bright instrument
played by an otherwise
silent divinity.

your body in a body
of water that connects to larger
bodies. Bless sensations:
when lost, hear a tender voice.

and lilies bloomed
in July, their waxed trumpets pure white,
dusting gold pollen to the ground.

Ten below, high of zero, 4:11 pm
flashed the alarm panel’s handsome blue touchscreen.

after the shipwreck
she swam ashore near naked
hands scraped raw on coral
bra and panties soaked through
sand in her teeth
lapped by aftermath
lying exhausted
slowly approaching
the condition of music