barefoot fountain

sift through seconds,

relive moments, 

slough off the ugly and remember

singing at the top of our lungs, 

talking about babies and other people

's weddings, 

swaying after kamikazes, hair back in a bar,

slipping lips and

touching fingers 

pulling you 

by the belt ("come my Greek goddess"),

analyze the details - save them for later -

a breath, 

an end,

the knowledge 

that you are,

you are

impossibly loved, 

surrounded by kindness, caught

- impossibly, gratefully caught -

in a sea, a net, a web 

of understanding, 

the 

heart-

beat, 

heartbeats, heart/beat, 

when friendship is boiled down 

to tears on a bench trickling 

and hugs on a floor ("come cuddle"), 

dresses and cupcakes 

at a champagne tea party,

a barefoot fountain. 

love is. 

Midnight Groceries

Futilely searching,
I found myself flailing
in a dreamscape
where everyone knew the rules,
but I couldn't find the directions,
searching through the dark streets
for the one who had held my hand and
kissed me in the basement in a bathroom
where genders were separated by gauze,
I looked at names on plaques
on anonymous buildings
and followed strangers inside
when they opened the door
to bring in midnight groceries.

In what looked like a bachelor pad,
but also maybe an apartment I once saw,
bathed in orange light,
a round couch (a bed?),
and rooms like a maze,
impossible to navigate,
dotted with candles,
I checked my text messages to discover,
"Hope you won't mind, playing cards with my friends,"
but I did mind because I had left the comfort
of the ones who loved me to try something new,
only to be set on a side street
of Manhattan, surrounded by concrete,
led by the nose to something that didn't exist.

Hansel

I'd be interested
to know if the name
etched in bright green on the clear cup
containing the light brown liquid
most of us imbibe to survive, 
well if that name is your name,
because I have known those writers
to misspell Krista as Christry and Kristin,
Gigi as Titi, and Jess as Jeff
so I would be amused if someone
introduced him or herself to me
on the subway,
sat next to me on the light blue seats
caked with the imprints of 100s of people,
and called me by the name written 
on my cup.

Nice to meet you, Hansel, 
or whomever you are.