Member-only story
Our Common Welfare
A Poem
ALLOW ME TO PART THE SEAS, dear Asha, forge a path
Before us that will make time stand still, wait for us to
Cross it together like a pleasant afternoon in your bed.
Your breasts are large and I climb them with fingertips
And kisses, like a mountain near the coast; then there’s
An efflux of my love and I consider myself lucky, part of
A tribe that wants me in their circle. A woman who makes
Her man feel like a king is rare, it’s a skill unpossessed by
Many and you braid your hair while I recover, just a boy
Wondering how he grew so old, as if youth was something
You misplace like a route to a suburb of satisfaction. Let
Me slip inside again, my love, if for no other reason but
Our common welfare. I can estimate the time I have left
But I wonder about how Frank will spend the rest of his life,
Will it be worrying about your thighs? I’m just a common
Voter, never managing to do anything other than go to
The bank on Friday and keep everything in a cluster. Think
About baseball they used to say, but that only helps so much;
Once I’ve climbed aboard your train there’s too much excitement
And I know it’s my fault but I can’t help collapsing like coal does
Until it becomes a diamond — so much pressure I’ve got to let it out.
