RELATIONSHIP POEM: The Complete History of Our First Kiss, by Gary Beaumier

The old trees bend protectively around us
as we rest on the park bench in our winter wear
your faltering mind following the course of the river that is close and sure and deep

even now I can still find your younger face and remember the pillowy softness
of your lips when ours first met when we became love desperados

for now we will make our way to the bookstore by the famous church
and I will buy for you a neglected volume of stories
that will carry you into the long nights and when we find a place to take coffee
you will caress the weave of the cover as I serve your cup with an unsteady hand

and I see there is a little less of you this day

should we weight our overcoat pockets with rocks and wade into the waters?
it will seem like the most natural thing we will clutch each other and
let the current spin and dance us as our hats float free
if they find us washed up on some farther bank will our lips be blue like something that
burned pure
and is death just a river that will take us somewhere else?

for tonight though I will read to you to quell your agitations
–words you may still find familiar–
and in not too long a time when I kiss you again
will you think it’s our first?