Just-After

8/5

We crashed into each other like waves
And, submerged in you, I came up for air,
Only to take you inside me, in turn, to twist
Beneath the surface like snakes
Wrapped over and over again in the sheets of your bed.

And the waves broke, crested and white,
In that just-before, just-before, just-before moment,
When the electric horizon hushes before
The intake of wind before the first peal of thunder.

And, on the sand, we lie broken together,
The salt blinding my eyes, my fingers dislocated,
Located somewhere else, digging into the sand
And finding nothing but clumps of air.

And as we lost our grips, and lost each other,
I remember, holding you in my lap,
Still twisted in the sheets of your bed,
And that just-before, just-before, just-before moment
Becomes the just-after, just-after, just-after leaving,

When I tell you I love you, but the words are lost
To the wind, and the waves drown out the noise;
As our own waterworks start flowing, and we
Cling to wet sand and driftwood and each other;

As my heart keeps time, even still now,
With the violent, aching beat of thunder,
When the storm broke over our heads and swept
Our time and memories back into the restless waves.