Two Sonnets for Alex

1.
Teeth, cheekbones, eyesockets, the hard terrain
Of my own skull, kissed for me in bed —
But then you stopped, seemed surprised, and said:
"I smell carnations!" Your nose touching a vein
That jutted from my temple, as if my brain
Were squeezed too tight. Carnations in my head!
You must have made them bloom, the watershed
In that vast land I wanted to explain:
A desert shimmering away in light,
Where I'd imagined everything. But you!
You were no goddess, recognized on sight
From dreams of death, from the poetry I wrote;
Discoverer, you told me flowers grew
In ground I thought was lunar and remote.


Published in Song No. 6, 1978



2.
If I say I'm jealous, don't think I'm a cramped,
Squint-eyed redneck full of mean suspicions,
Or that I want your love's abundance stamped
"Classified data" for my secret missions.
My gut aches sometimes, that's all. It can't be cured.
I know no therapy to make the mating
Any more sensible, any less weird
With pangs, pressures, preening, and parading.
I love you as a gander loves a goose —
No human love is more enduring! Inviting
His lady to be had, he cannot choose
But strike the same pose as he does for fighting.
Call it a pose. Still, my love's not light.
If even I so treat it, I will fight.


Published in Blue Unicorn, Oct. 1985