Poems by Willow (she/they)

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These poems are inspired by my partner and the ins and outs of our queer relationship. I write with the hope of capturing fleeting moments of our lives together and creating something with tangibility and permanence.

PARKING LOT

We’re in a parking lot

(again)

We’ve found each other here

(with our hands and mouths)

Time a plague we’d rather ignore

We’re in a parking lot

(again)

Words spilled inside your car –

have rolled under the seats

Please don’t clean them up

Let’s save them for a rainy day

We’re in a parking lot

(again)

I say again not to complain

But to point out that parking lots –

can be home too

(but only with you)

_

THE BATH

Water runs as the day slips to the floor

Heady steam crawls across the walls

While light is all that holds us together

You sink, and sink, and sink

(and sigh)

Awashed in foam

As I ease into the chasm by your side

Slip a hand into the water –

Just to taste the temperature of your mood

My habitual hands begin their ritual

Of discovering you anew

Tracing every etched line

While roving eyes consume

Slowly,

with care –

So that I might devour the valleys –

Of your softened flesh

All the while,

Mountain ranges make their home upon your skin –

While warmth exits the room without apology

And scented melancholy runs down the drain

–

DNA

Soon,

I find you in every word

And every word is you,

I carry you,

Carefully – so that,

Every shared breath,

Caught up in the sails of our bodies,

May be strung along the strands of my DNA

So that I may never forget

The musk – of you

As I watch you, unfurl

Flower stained lips

Ripe for the picking

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Willow (she/they) is a 31 year old queer poet from Cape Town, South Africa. She is soon to be published, and hopes to continue to share her words. You can find them on Instagram at @willowoliviarose