Classic and Contemporary Poetry
WINTER, by TIMOTHY LIU Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: How long will the bed that we made together Subject(s): Gay Men; Relationships | ||||||||
How long will the bed that we made together hold us there? Your stubbled cheeks grazed my skin from evening to dawn, a cloud of scattered particles now, islands of shaving foam slowly spiraling down the drain, blood drops stippling the water pink as I kiss the back of your neck, our faces framed inside a medicine cabinet mirror. The blade of your hand carves a portal out of steam, the two of us like boys behind frosted glass who wave goodbye while a car shoves off into winter. All that went unnoticed till now -- empty cups of coffee stacked up in the sink, the neighborhood kids up to their necks in mounds of autumn leaves. How months on a kitchen calendar drop like frozen flies, the flu season at its peak followed by a train of magic-markered xxx's -- nights we'd spend apart. Death must work that way, a string of long distance calls that only gets through to the sound of your voice on our machine, my heart's mute confession screened out. How long before we turn away from flowers altogether, your blind hand reaching past our bedridden shoulders to hit that digital alarm at delayed intervals -- till you shut it off completely. Used with the permission of Copper Canyon Press, P.O. Box 271, Port Townsend, WA 98368-0271, www.cc.press.org | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...AMERICAN WEDDING by ESSEX HEMPHILL PUNK HALF PANTHER by JUAN FELIPE HERRERA LET US GATHER IN A FLOURISHING WAY by JUAN FELIPE HERRERA THE DIFFERENCE by RICHARD HOWARD THE ADVANCE OF THE FATHER by FANNY HOWE |
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