like this

I like this

I like the way you look at me.

like I’m a thing worth keeping.

I long to look at you too—

not just look—stare, like a fool.

you fit against me like we’ve been broken

by the same kind of loneliness.

I drink and think /

about your mouth,

your skin on mine,

how maybe it’s a mistake

We are too far apart.

I want tents and alcohol

salt on your neck,

your sweat under my tongue.

I want to eat you alive,

eat the ache right out of you,

sit by a fire till the wood gives up,

watch the moon fall into the water.

snowy mountains.

calm boards.

waves that don’t give a damn.

I want all of it,

but mostly I want you there.

you’re kind.

I’m kind back.

we cancel the world out for a while.

with you, I’m alone

but not lonely.

free but not gone.

I could lie beside you forever,

eyes open,

breathing the same night.

if I died there,

it’d be alright.