Up Here

Up here they paint in pagan colors
their bloodlines and chiseled groove
up here soft smoke bucks
soft smoke in silver sentiment
up here we breathe deep
that long full pull of life
from that unmistakable perch
from that good good

y'all tickle danger at the party
after dark costume closet
a finger fidgeting under
her bluejean folds
over the panties tho

I suckle at her plump possibility
fruit and fabric tossed willy-nilly
buried face in the wet copse of
unbridled
unknown
wrestle untethered together cold
in the crag, the barbarous kings
of the leviathan

up here the fierce wind roars
unchallenged, overseer
of burning dreams
judgment out looking for a thrill
up here in the cumulous canopy
god's hard
fat throne
those with ears listen
those with one ear even
up here

higher than hurt can reach
higher than missing you
higher than a life's worth of brash
misplaced dialogue
in moments that shouldn't matter
but do
up here, alone
with my memories
up here with what I thought was
a guide
but is a ghost.

TA