You arrive as you always do
Cloaked in light and earthen sweetness,
Frankincense and honey bound with mirth.

My lungs unlatch for you
Fill the space between your fingers
With wispy thrill,
It feels so good to be held.

You lead me to the nucleus of a dream
Solid and pulsing
It simpers as we greet it with our soles

And dance.

You swirl and bare a river from your wrist
My limbs become orison in reverent palms
The dream revels with us,
Takes shape amid two bodies enrapturing the twilight in color.

I say your name and indigo pours out
You laugh and emerald inscribes the wind with bliss.

We do not notice the dawn until it drapes across our faces
Beckoning us back towards the sun.

We slip through morning’s eye
Suspending time with hushed steps
While you weave a favor from your farewell.

I wake with it tucked beneath my pillow.

Jumoke McDuffie-Thurmond is a poet and artist preoccupied with the interplay between memory, myth, and embodiment. He was born and raised in Brooklyn, where he currently lives.

View David Joel Kitcher’s selected works.