Tannin

My toe is always drawn to

the most treacherous of waters

Why can we not just sit

on your porch with our wine

and talk of something banal

like petrol prices, or the weather?

Every breath stops me from dying

And there you sit, splendorous

As I wonder what God is

and (whatever it may be)
Why I always find myself

neck-deep in deuterium

when I don't know how to swim.

Don't throw me a rope.

Let me thrash this out.

Let me see if I can

lose you in the waves.

Let me see if the mirrors we carry

can show me what we look like.

Let me see if we were

at all, meant to be.