secret swallows of saliva
go down hard when I think of you
playing harmonica flawlessly
self taught from
an early age

glimpsed dreams of your skin
not clean today
and your smell
not good today
keeps me up at night

half-cried tears
leak out
as I recall the crooked tooth
on the upper right
of your lying mouth

of all I see of you
can’t make anger come alive
inside a heart that loved your ways

watched you walk away
slow
recalled our meter
not wanting to lose the beat
but letting new rhythm
become the future