Two New Poems for August

“Longing,” as Robert Hass said, “because desire is full of endless distances.”

Side B, Song 4

I tell you "it has been a long time"
How long
doesn’t really matter

I have come back
to sit on your kitchen counter 
holding that first light

I have come back
to touch the trees
in every graveyard

I have come back
to use your shower
and stand in this field at dusk

I have come back
to sing in the car 

to drink water
from your garden

I have come back
mostly to myself, but also to you

I have come back
to close that gate behind me

---

The Last Supper

Every time
it varies -

Still, I am
Laid out

a banquet
made wholly [and holy] 
for you

My heart,
a tender feast
served last

Yours 
thunders from
the back of the room. 
Mine
slams down 
against your plate 
Against this tall table

And the beat of your tongue 
punching your teeth 
mixes to the tang of your thighs
stuck to the velvet seat
of your high-backed chair
[fills the room with music]

I tell you, "this is my body"
Devour me 
because I believe
in transubstantiation,

Someday
I will wake in your veins
And run
right through the core of you.