Cause and Effect
        after Dean Young

Because we are so thoughtless
we kiss each other on the holes

we speak from, we cross our legs
upon each other, angling in,

always angling in. The fireplace
is electric, but that doesn't stop

our melding on the hardwood.
Because we are so hungry we stare

like owls at the bar-lit faces
of strangers we know

we're supposed to want.
You are a deep-sea diver

and I'm an inactive volcano.
You are a starfish and I'm

a rash from a wetsuit. You are
four honeymooners and I'm

the blonde walking by.
Because we are so close

our fingertips catch. You plunge us
into the ocean. I speak in bubbles.

You grow a shell and I'm the grit
in your mantle. We irritate

each other. We produce a pearl.

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Copyright © 2022 Dan Rosenberg All rights reserved
from Bassinet
Carnegie Mellon University Press
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission