i have burned the red candle without looking
and saged the interiors of my heart
above my driveway, orion points me
but this is not a hunt
and we are neither predators nor prey.

i write your memories across past lovers' letters
and till the ashes into my back garden.

the length of your eyelashes and your expressions of preference
and the mark of your acceptance on my skin--
signs, all. i am not afraid.

we meet in other layers of the universe, you and i.
another us lays bare the works of our hearts and hands
and we are both grateful.