once it blooms, maguey dies
like your hand
in my back pocket
hand in my hand
tongue in my ear
green
to tan
to gray
to black
and blue bruise
crescenting your eyebrow
beloved
why won’t you look at me today?
why will you only touch me in darkness?
I am not jasmine,
I do not nightbloom
I am not bioluminescent,
I do not glow
when put against the night,
I am not your tear glinting
in projector glow
tracing a path down
your nose
I want to press
my lips there
tell you through the salt
that one day he won’t,
won’t hit
I don’t.
you let me out your life
like opening windows
on a cold day
the shock of air,
awake at last
