When it is said I love you
One feasts on delicacies to die for
Licking, nibbling and sucking things
From shells that slide down your throat
Into your belly — where you live.

You lay pearls that never lead you back
They only push you forward
Toward the edge of the planet
And an obligatory step into encased space
Naked in bare faith.

There, stars wink conceit and hover arrogantly
Mumming their secrets
Or maybe they really don’t know
why, how or what for.

You glimpse a falling spectacle
Once held in pure black love
Now screaming from the scene
Because one or the other let go
You wish nobody let go
Still, there are letting go’s all over the place.

Fiery streaks of havoc
They land and solder themselves upon your back
A weighty hump
Determined to cause the spine to snap
And plummet you toward shifting plates
Beneath the earth.

Where love is never uttered
A feast never laid
and all you need do is lie there
Mercy.