He stood like the sunset
long-legged rays of approaching darkness
stretching across the horizon.
He was the yellow-blossomed Texas Cacti
nice to look at,
get too close,
become pierced
by the addiction of needles.
His hands were mapmakers discovering my body
and no matter how much ocean I put between us,
his desert was in my heart.
Eyes like forbidden water
broken glass reflections of
his shadow, his silhouette, his darkness
an unknown destructive loneliness.
My Prickly Paw sweet soft flesh
impaled by stinging needles
changed by his wasteland tongue
both sides of his mouth talking
the convoluted truth
more dangerous than a bonfire in August
He stood like the shadows of the golden hour
a man’s torso and chestnut horse
calling Apollo across the sky.
The arrogance of Cancer
his arms’ goose down fur - the burnt cinders of a million hearts.
Stirring my scorched desire
Cross-eyed godless lovers,
mapmakers discovering mountains
of ice and ash.