AGAINST ALL ODDS

Back in my half of the state
My office
My desk
It seems that every time
I skulk a glance
At my digital frame
You are looking back at me
Just 6 out of 43 photos
What vulpine
Sorcery is this?

But always fuck with probability
Like your frangible maidenhead
(Excuse me, maidenhair)
Fern I agreed to look after
Adiantum cognoscente I am not
Still I will tend
To lend my one good shoulder
For you to lean on
As your knee fights
This path’s declivity

And instead of hoping it’s enough
I will merely continue
To emulate your recalcitrant
Example
Your radical honesty
Ineffable
Opening the bedsheets
Sincerely
Inviting
This nascent partnership

You discard your blasphemy-
Blaring shirt, your panties
And I bear witness as
A Marian apparition
Emerges from folds inside you
I can feel you holding back
You say, pulling me close
Through barriers of shame
And flesh
Against all odds