under the sheets
live connective tissues
voltaic ribbons of somatic rind
suffused with ducts, veins, veils and glands
from which nectars emerge
as from saturate beds of swollen moss
under the weight of a body
in the heat of the moment
as the oil seal breaks
and lachrymation
spills onto the cheek.
here, cell junctions hold tight
while dilated pores breath
deep
in a keratinised forest
of brittle beard and bush.
a handful of digits
dig in resistant skin
un-perforated by UV photon bombardment
unionised by the regional, small-waved violence
of the electromagnetic spectrum.
lenses lunge
at the thrill of extremities
tracing their own imaginary meridians
in a landscape of tufts and dimples
looking for love
looking for a cry
looking for the second tongue between your
legs.
stalactite columns of flesh and bone
the gluteus maximus, the femur, we,
held together by sweat and tendon
looking for fertility
looking for water
looking for the second stomach between your
hips.
navel, as equidistant scar
as mammalian epicentre
a tiny rim
a retracted umbilical stump
a star
into which salts collect
and crystallise.
spy the two fair lashings
that tie our faces together
the flashing globular organs
that sit below a bony crown
from whose peak a nervous breath may slide
across a tepid, glandular piste
to land
face-first
into buoyant breasts
that smell of the tide
and of home sweet home.
