on a whim
I might show you my skin
deeper than thoughts and stronger than words,
slip - my - straps down sweetly
your words migh r& though whispered
my skin migh though never once touched
my hands migh though never feeling
I have a million secrets under my skin
the great novel, the unspoken poem
the song that you sing in the shower
can you read the writing on my shoulder?
(I'm told my cursive is illegible)
hhhold your breath whe e
it lingers,
like the smoke from my father, drifting
up and up and up and up and up
does it ever go away?

ride on my merry-go-round
the horse will take you up (and up and up and up)
you might reach that space between the stars
my voice might carry out that far and maybe you might feel
what I've been telling you all along

it'd be the hushed secret in the great dark,
the last word in the great romance,
sky I might just tell you
maybe, finally

the secret I've been dying to let you know

- is -