Desire
…Now women are at their foulest, / But men are weak
since they are parched in the head and knees / By Sirius…
Alcaeus
Outside is that summer
which we longed for
on winter nights
from underneath our layers
of eiderdown,
remembering
the sudden dawns
and sultry weather,
the freedom of bare legs,
the endless light,
and all the growing things
that green and blossom.
*
Recall that we desired
this heat.
Recall this
when my touch
feels more revolting
than the wind’s
warm breath,
when the air
is spore-rich
and bristling, and when—
awake and restless,
your sluggish
sweating body
burning in our bed
—you long for cold and thunder.
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