NOT HERE

That singer is not here
The one that sings the song
That's in your head all the time

The garden is not here
That patch of soil you cleared and planted
Those seeds you worry about

The buIlding is not here
the latest design project
that's not quite finished

The girl is not here
The one I kissed
that I told you about

The bed is here, and
The blanket that covers us
that creates our world underneath

GUMS NUMB

Out of sight you make my teeth tingle
when you say my name
by accident
not knowing me

Your voice as intimate as someone I know
and the words I hear when I think
and sometimes say

you'd only know my name
if I showed you my driver's license

and here you are making my gums numb

by calling out to me in a sound I
recognize as my own