missing him

When I licked the inside of your
mouth I tasted the dead.
Or red velvet cake. I loved the
violence in you, the lines of pine
trees sprouting from your clothes.
Inside the table we stored all the
skyscrapers, the moon covered
in rows of apples. Come back or I
swear the butterflies will start
leaving my body again. The sheets
that covered our faces when we
kissed. I still hide in the tub,
go crawling down the drain. Waves
crash below our empty bed on the
beach. The way our bodies fit
together like scissors. But I can’t
reach far enough to lift my face
off the floor. Ache to cover my
nakedness like we covered all the
furniture. You were the only
one who could cut the roses
from my back. When you call my
name I still tumble from the shelves.
You've cracked all the codes in
my speech. But I can’t catch you, my
words grow too big and your body
slips through them. You bite your
bottom lip and the birds in my dress
go fluttering away. How I still grasp
a chair and gasp for air when I realize
that you’re gone.