give me honest clean monogamy
and plain fidelity
someone sober
someone older
someone salty like the sea

give me a rider wearing blinders
someone stubborn someone free
a head held high
and honest eyes
that only look at me

give me your future unwritten
and a pen with thick black ink
give me your hand
give me your plans
I’ll wash them down the sink

give me the record of your life
and a record player, too
you’ll hear just how
I play it loud
and scratch my life on you

give me a distant dark’ning sky
purple fading into black
we’ll sleep at night
together, tight
my cheek against your back

– – – – –

published in Lingua’s 2013 Journal