SHADOWPLAY

a clear sky on two legs

brings me the horizon

blurring the lines, see

the sea dissolving into sky

where you start I begin

too, looking within

you

(this is how one night stands)

temptation

teeming

temperament

testified

tick tock

(it is time)

in the hills of crumpled sheets

my nose finds its way to your temple

pillars are strong

slender as runes

fingers know well

engraved like prunes

we clasp hands after you unclasp your bra

this will be the first and last time

(and we know it)

tonight as we age

steady as pages, turning

tracing down the spine

of paragraphs, I read

with my fingers along grooves

words that behoove need

alas,

a bare back

tells me a rare fact

(do you dare tact?)

for all mysteries

abandoned in the dark

go figure, geology

two flints for a spark

soft surfaces and hard stops

shapes shifting in cadence

we writhe like worms

unearth me

(i am latent)

axe me a question

before the guillotine yawns

i can see in your eyes 

time reeling back to dawn

swollen and swallowed

as the lump in my throat

the moon as our witness

we exhale our vows

wondering whether

in relief or defeat do our breaths

weather wonder

still, in our embrace

i wear your touch like a tattoo

the pain we invite

journaling with needles

what lines to be drawn

when itching to be

(needless)

Philippe Kwon - 23/11/2022