Above the Autumn Colors

your brief words clung around
the inevitable taste i have come
to know so well
watching the days and hours falter
long enough to embrace the promise

anointed by the wisdom of shadows.

and then your brief words as always
led us to the ritual
and then to the temple
where your undeniable heat
wanted me to enter your thresholds;
enter your solace;
enter your fortitude;
enter your dare as your tongue
as your fingers,
as your lips and holy command

took hold of my girth
that had easily become
the strange oracle i wouldn't resist.

i watched you as i slowly changed;
i watched you as you carefully guided
your thirst, your curiosity, your ransom
closer and closer to the edges
where you knew we wouldn't break;
inside of your mouth,
your tongue and breath conspired
to neither soothe nor incite
the campaign that my girth
was eager to complete
well before my hands and fingers
found their place at the back of your head;
well before my Mind took control over
any reasonable doubt
that gravity couldn't be conquered by

the temple breath i would invoke
to prevent the storm from flooding
the shores and dangerous reefs
of your efforts
now that autumn was in vogue

its colors shamelessly abundant
as i rose above
my own misplaced moaning
that was everywhere at once
but nowhere in particular

as i allowed you a reprieve
releasing my fingers and hands
long enough for our eyes to meet
long enough for you to guess and decide

what was going to be your latest identity
in the hours ahead.

over the horizon,
it has been said --
a ship that leaves harbor has
only two destinies;
your eyes never lost focus
as your fingers and hand sought its
slow justice moving up and down
my fearless girth made heavy
and heavier still ....