we never went bowling

oh god, I fell in love with you
as your contagious laughter
spread
tangentially into my ribcage.
we shook in so many ways--
who really wants to be taken seriously
in bed?

and I am a slave to
world maps, always jonesing
for an outbound ticket; yet,
your chameleon eyes take me
to so many places
I have never been
with no speed limits on the freeway,
meteor showers in your backyard--
endless vacations days.

you taught me another word
for kissing:
two points coming together
lines that never end fitting
together, the same curvature.
the first move only pretended
to be mine--
i told you i fall
so hard for words.
you never stopped sending
those songs and poems.
damn those two foolish years
i could have spent with you.

we visited
your demented grandmother
she constructed stories
of glaring gunshots and leaky rooves
but her questions were very real--
what are you going to do, so far away
from one another?
i could sleep forever
if only to stop wondering
if only to be in love with you,
forever,
as I am in love with you now
every time your touch
melts out of my skin
like permafrost.
I'll be your antarctica.