my throat is a mass grave and I’m not sorry

i want to eat a knife blade from the corner of your smile

your forearm across my windpipe, sepia fever dream, stained the color of the crook of your elbow

i stopped using straws to drink when I realized I’d keep drowning in empty paper coffee sleeves

the liquid bites my tongue, sends me tumbling through a landslide to 2018, and I reach down my waist band sweating in a too familiar parking lot

i ache against my palm

shift my mouth against a breath that’s not there

gulp down night air

wonder when the sun began to set this quick

I love hugging. I am a serial hugger.

Between the beginning of my career and the end, I learned to ask first, but it was often while I was airborne, arms wide and ready to envelop.

I'm on my second career now and surrounded by artistic people who, generally, hug as much as me.

Covid was a nightmare for us all.

Now, however, hugs are permissible as long as both parties are willing to temp Covid fate.

But kissing? Oh my!

Before I got married, I have to say, kissing was my favorite activity. I get why you would long for kisses.

But, has your dentist ever shown you what a swipe of your saliva looks like under a microscope? Mine did 20 years ago. It's the perfect antidote to the missing kissing bug. I went weeks, maybe months, without kissing my husband. Try it! You'll feel loads better about keeping your lips to yourself.

Have you tried spooning? All the affection, none of the microbe-filled spit...

that eyes could say

what sawdust words

never could,

that i could look

and wonder,

and that was that

the possibility of

youth's greatest wish:

kiss

to wrench that feeling

from someone else,

to breath it off them.

the want

to steal it from your

eyes, or your lips

:

to miss

wanting

kissing people

to miss the

//romance

the

//bleeding hearts

to miss what

i missed

to long for the unreachable:

forbidden islands

and landlocked expectations

and wanton undreamt dreams

i miss what

i can't have

&

i miss what

i never wanted

The hardest thing

that I’ve ever had to do

is be in love

with you.

- Since 17 // I miss your kiss.

#short #shortpoem #quote #inlove #love #lovestory #sad #sadlove #heartbreak #breakup #iloveyou #imissyou #younglove

I see people in a small cafe next to my tiny apartment.

An elderly couple with matching gray for their hair, greet each other with a peck on lips. I wonder what they tasted then? He must have tasted the faint bitterness of the coffee she was sipping earlier, and she dry staleness because he drank a whole glass of water as he sat.

A very busy barista with pouty lips, and golden hair. Few of those golden strands stuck to her neck because of the sweat she was oozing out. She must taste like lipsticks, and fresh salt. Her eyes catch the glimpse of a tall figure.

A tall man with a neat gray stubble, in a gray polo and green khakis has an aura around him. Everybody in that small cafe could smell his presence, I am sure he tastes like sandalwood and sophistication.

A poet in me is bored of my own taste. I wonder how I taste like, to other people. Do people miss kissing me, as I miss kissing people?

i used to know what confidence felt like

in the brash nature of blowing strangers a kiss goodbye

of taking the hand of a friend in elaborate courtesy to extend a press of my lips upon their skin

i used to know what comfort felt like

of forehead kisses to say goodbye

and the touch of lips to the cheek in hello

i used to know what it was like

i miss knowing what it was like

I'm blowing kisses to the wind

and it doesn't seem to mind.

The wind has no fear of germs

or social distancing. It comes

and goes like a steady friend.

I'm kissing the mirror as a

reminder I'll be okay in a world

of uncertainty and disappointment.

My lipstick affection screams we all

need a little affirmation.

I'm kissing my plants so they will

grow green, leafy, and healthy in

rooms filled with worries and thoughts.

Thrive, thrive, thrive even when the odds

scream for defeat.

I'm very likely to blow a kiss from the

window of my car, across the hallway,

or walking down the street. After all,

what this world really needs is a lot

more love and continual kisses.

Ahh, to enjoy the thrill of passion

once again! I know I had had it once,

I just can’t remember what it felt like.

To kiss a lover in a hot blooded fever,

enjoying his tight embrace not slowing down to take a breather.

Tongues entwined in a clutching grip,

Breathing harder and faster, as we don’t want to get off this “Tripp”.

Yeah, once upon a time I remember days like that. Now I’m just old, saggy, grey and fat!

I miss kissing people, men with physique’s and sweet babies cheeks!

Its that closeness the sweetness I miss.

It was always there in the

kiss.