2. the woods outside balboa park
dark clouds coming in again
i should’ve seen them by now
but you never gave a warning
always storming in like a tornado
ripping the flowers out of the ground
never did see the coast line bouquets
the ones we made together
like rain and sun
the harsh winter and the spring bloom
a powerful two-some
come undone
you were a vortex of wind
made out of thin air
i don’t know how she does it
it must be ‘cause she likes chemistry
and the physics of life
connections of the world
guided by moon
shown by sun
emotions mercurialized
status quo saturnined
like alchemy in the sky
you and i
her waves didn’t touch the shores
although she did come up for air
from time to time waving you in
but that’s not where she lived
no she was far far below it
sunken like a shipwreck
swimming where light can’t reach
underwater whirlpool
swirling
twirling
hurling at you
barreling body
bikin
bottom
and
hundreds of tears
later
years
too
her depths below the waist and your toes
free range watering pools
where no lifeguard goes
the scuba divers can’t breathe down here
no pockets for air
liquid nitrogen
cloaked in oceania
the deepest imagination
and unimaginable hurt
algae where her heart once beat
coral reefs the color of relief
she could have anything she wanted
she chose your sea shores
you lit a match like an oil spill
sunburnt blues, charcoaled.