i will never match you story for story.
i will never be natural in the world you made.
you and i are two different animals climbing
up the same mountain: we find solidarity
in the facts of genetics, in how articulate we can be
with footsteps in uncharted landscapes.
we speak in hoofprints, stark in the red mud
of this valley: where are you? i am here.
this is mine. you and i stake out our realms, but
both refuse to circle them, refuse the
anxiety of maintaining control. i give over
to the beat of the seasons: i will meet
you in the deep deciduous trees, green and brown and
smelling of decomposition, full of shadows,
and i will kiss you there like you are my only.
i will touch you there in the earthy damp,
among the roots, with my knees in the peat:
i will seek you as though the world ends in us.