summon

that night was the first time
we had seen rain for
thirteen years

the people knew at once that
some kind of special ceremony
had been performed

the flocks of white birds
lacing the clouds
as they circled overhead

the ebb of dark music
on the wind,
moving through air
like insence might

seemed to suggest
that something
foreign
had been summoned.

***

the ball of your palm
over my eyelids
keeps me guessing
for a whole five minutes
as to what is about
to happen next.

you tell me that
all sound
comes from silence
and
all sound
returns to silence.

my lips part softly
as you speak
i can almost taste
those quiet, desperate
words.

***

we slept flat
like sheets of rice paper
beneath a sky so full
it looked as if it might
take flight
and take us with it.

no longer in japan
we dreamt of fabric
soft enough to cushion
our desires

in our minds
strolled through markets
in downtown kyoto

searching for the perfect
kimino
to cocoon ourselves within.