Atom

what do we know of love

those of us escaping our first memories

we ran to the lake shores at first

made music with the water

she said it was an ocean

it was home

when she was still here it was

always stardust recomposing

and we are waiting still

we know it moves out from the inside

enfolding back again

but what do we know

so where are we anyways

hands slipping over stoic eyes

don't be so serious

thoughts broken open

returning their motions to the staggered ecstasy of a dreamscape beneath wavering eyelids

just molecules moving

through folds of the mind

the curved sluice of night birds

and she's there waving from the screen door at dusk

in daylight the rain of photons dwindles passing through

instantly yet not

touching

nor losing touch

candles in a small apartment

years of Morse code hang in the air parsing the savory haze

worn carpet and unscripted laughter

tired eyes and the hum of life in the other time

a pause in the shy heart of the wild

crossing railway gravel

nose fixed on a trace of creosote

tick tock twitch

black raspberry stained hands

florid stories of old caves

of cottonwoods

taking the hand we know

the one that reaches back in time

and can we hear our children's voices jumping off the radio telescopes

scattered like white paint in the night of the island mountains

breaking down the galaxy in all directions

on particles that crossed the other stars

before any of us existed

love

in the sinking railway engine of time

in the pang of tension wires a mile into the deep seas

our species lights blinking

where are you

I'm here

or am i

just all that space

between each atom

what makes us feel like ten-toed tapestries of inarticulate nothing

wearing the shoes we like

there are holes in my socks

all of us together in the star

does it feel okay

what is the word