Honey/Manila Portfolio

This is not a book. Otherwise, by now
We would love each other.
You would not put me first,
Out of a kind habit, under your coat
And clutch—as a sudden rain
Spate down. For I've seen it done
For the hardly known.

No, you would know with a book you love:
How nothing held your eyes
The way the words did, with archer-focus:
How each arrow heading toward you
Was slowed by the dripping beehive
On its spike—

Nothing else could hold what you are
Still: I pressed your heart in speech and saw
What a musical you let rush, nothing
Else in the eyes. This is not a book,
But a streak—
Words cross reins—
The brow splits, veins careen.

Copyright Credit: Farnoosh Fathi, "Honey/Manila Portfolio" from Great Guns. Copyright © 2013 by Farnoosh Fathi.  Reprinted by permission of Canarium Books.
Source: Great Guns (Canarium Books, 2013)