For Mariko

This inconsolable distance

Between our lips

Separated by unfamiliar cities

And impassable seas;

This insatiable wonder for the unknown

That grows every day in morbid anticipation

Of the smell of your newly washed hair at sunrise

And the taste of your sweat in a tropical afternoon

Submerging my heart in a nocturnal desire

Of endless longing for the unbearable beauty

Of your body and soul

I dreamed of wild planes flying over my chest

Landing in my palms

Then the weight of your laughter

Crossing the convergence

Between the moist summer of May

And the wet rain of December

And your naked feet landing in the shores of my dreams

Quietly treading the terrain of my desires

And we like leopards in the grasslands,

Bare our fangs hunting for each other’s necks

Teetering, staggering in a sea of furious fire

And upon reaching a sudden end,

I open my eyes, as you close yours

And the thread of delirious enchantment

That binds us snaps

And I am wide awake,

Staring at the archipelago

Of my loneliness