when you say leaving

poetical diversions in the kitchen

weaving through canebrakes

chasing the scent of our sweat

bodies grounded in discovery wondering when

did we surrender

when did we dance in fields

was it long ago are we undone now never say that

our natural language —love

little wild strawberries

sweet as a kisscatch a glimpse

how the body meets the plant

the tallgrass tommorrow saw

you wrote the beautiful songs for me

we covered ourselves

Egana Catte

red earth black soil

the heat of this memory

spices are defense against forgetting

brain bolts overgrown by the naked eye

you are green peppercorn on the vine

cayenne’s clean fire

soothing clove clever and dangerous one breath

of your aroma caught between my teeth rushes past my daily dosing as close as a tear the fragrant release

of a lie

I will love you til I die

I am time traveling

oils are at their richest

before the blossom

young in love we cooked outside

I see you in the birds and trees now

spices you gathered from starlight simmer

cumin cardamon shifting appetites

hungry again and again

reactive chemistry your tongue a knife

sting me crush me

we go wandering a world burgundy red

trip by moonlight

drive on past the ones who hate us

take me to the graveyard to smoke a cigarette

write our epitaphs in honeysuckle nectar

fetch me jasmine from the paupers field

all of this rushing around in the kitchen I am dizzy at the assault on my senses

you are

paprika smoky sweetness

deep warm ginger dried

the delight of numbness and heat together

bruise my hip

climbing resting still

make me want turmeric sunshine

bitter surprise

a tiny husk of smoke

you with your angel face

make me a cold drink

mint does not lower my temperature

you

muddle your way into

mentholated mornings

shade after early light

wander the garden path

earthy and deep

worn the neurons of these unkind days

our bare feet still follow chemistry

you and me

fennel and star anise

soft candy whisper between old nights

my genetic makeup predisposed to those of us who go

seeded by birds

rebirth means

love

swallows

us whole