Shy Poem by J. Barrett Wolf

I want to kiss you
To taste the uncertain closeness
That rhymes with the smell of your hair.
To take, in my shivery way
An irreparable step toward
The phosphorescence of your glance.

Urgency pushes at the inside of my skin
Making the sound of a small cat pacing.

This is an invitation, a threat,
A gift, an unexpected horizon.
An act of immense finality
- and nothing.
Your thin hands, manicured nails
Brush my skin with an invisible dust of electricity
That settles beneath the surface with
The sweetness of a cane field.
Trade winds soothe the sun’s high stare,
Cinnamon and Mangoes glow in your eyes.

I want to see you run
Without shoes
In rain warm as coming home to friends.