Only This Life

1 only you are allowed to enter voice for the first time the look   hesitant   undemanding body supple as sound the hand   unexpected   a fruit falling skin curves of sand lull below the arms scent of the ocean's salt 2 the body pushed into life's mouth 3 velvet crunch of white under feet   my heart snowy lizards' tails sleeping on branches arms rhyme with bending earth a shadow slants like a calligrapher's quill 4 pass the threshold 5 a genus of the solitary the knitted night       stained-glass boxes where memories ferment unplanned   you come 6 saguaros crack      monsoons consider erosion of rocks water's fire    lit worlds intersect           dusk     purity of ascent ferocious nose of a cat incandescent          through forces stay up waiting planes converge        fates intersect 7 how long does a measure last? 8 sea in the sky knives striking obliquely           army of light beating walls the aquamarine houses are ghosts between crystal trees water steals over skewed floors only this life 9 a cat sleeps one eye opened