“timelt” by Diana Aehegma
a time when you would wear shorts
on snow days I would warm
my toes on your stomach outer edges
always freezing you called/call it
your furnace center grimace merely
for effect but hold my feet in your hands
beneath your t-shirt where
and younger in the girls’ dorm
when we discovered what we could
lying with one ear pressed
head rested on roommate’s belly
internal churning quiet gurgle
a kind of glass to wall listening
where all the parts are flesh
scratchy blanket beneath your palm
someone else’s ankles your horizon
summer now that weird chill gloom
after July 4th unwise to wear a skirt
to work and back wind peeled off the train
sunset breeze blown legs cold walking home
I stand close to the oven near midnight
where two potatoes have been baking
heat dissipates fast rolling waves
round calves can’t get warm enough
Copyright © 2010, Diana Aehegma