Arrows, or Why my Phone Bill was so high last month

"Oh, I just love watermelon!" she shrieks
I laugh, falling
onto the bed, touch her knee
"and soap, and watches" she says with sweetness,
now I'm melted water, the heart exposed
to the deadly son of Venus, who sneaks nearby
as I watch her, paralyzed, already infected

----

twenty four hours thirty seven minutes eighteen seconds
I am alone
sitting in my apartment
alone
Did you ever notice how
even the window panes have company?
light bulbs always come in pairs of two?
the nightstand drawer, with it's partner underneath,
where I keep the envelope that your tongue licked shut
"it was so beautiful" you wrote on the inside.

-----

And now we talk across oceans
Your voice something tiny jammed into my unbitten neglected ear
I kiss you in photos, sniff sweaters you wore to the gym, rub pebbles of sand from beaches we made love on
I write poetry on yellowed parchment
cram into bottles like these
in hopes you might find them one day