yes!

opening, you open
to say yes
and then no
like it was so easy
at first
to give, and give,
and give.

closing, you close
when you say no please
later, thanks. and then
no, again
like it was so easy to say yes
and kiss from head to toe
and know that
yeses are wonderful but
maybes are better.
they’re non- adult.
they’re youthful in their
indecision.

half closing, half opening you wait
like you’re on a narrow street, cobble stone or brick
you’re holding a red umbrella
red for no for waiting for me
all over you.
but, you wait for the
yellow taxi with the black lettering
with the license plate
that records all wrongdoings of running
stop lights, fender benders.

half closing, you like the rain
and it’s fresh, free, lonely
yeses are wonderful when
raindrops whisper them
on eyelashes, tops of heads,
or the red skin of umbrellas.
half opening, you like the street
and it’s wet and coming alive
like you all over me that time
some time ago when you
saw the moon begin to rise
from my bedroom window.
light or shadow? which do you like better
you don’t choose
and it’s my job to make these
decisions. to say
yes, yes, yes!
I choose Light!

closing, you say
maybe, the moon’s rising
and I’m hungry for you.
but, the yeses, yes, please, etceteras
get lost in the magnetics of
the bed, the moon, the maybes of
everything you mean to say
but don’t.

opening, you open to say
yes all over me
you say it, but
nothing happens.
your yes disperses into the
horizons of our bodies: Our atlases of decisions
of whether to breathe in or out
of whether to kiss, caress or sleep
in the vague moonlight.
of whether to say yes, yes, yes or NO! or
maybe, because we’re scared
of losing something by
choosing yes, or no.
Maybe, you choose maybe.
The moon sinks into the light
Maybe, nothing dies.