Bien Nathaniel Gerodias

Kept like a flame in a lantern,
we burn where the wind cannot see.
Our glow is steady but hidden,
a constellation unnamed,
...

I sit behind you,
five years distilled into five minutes,
my hands searching for you and finding only
the loose ends of your sweater.
...

There is no face,
but I already fear it.
The outline of a stranger
waiting to wear your smile.
...

I stand
at the edge of a vast, unreachable ocean,
longing for the shore that holds my heart,
but no matter how far I stretch my hands,
...

I wither like a flower under a relentless sun,
each glance a scorch that drains my bud.
If your purpose is to rend me from this world,
let the final curtain fall swiftly,
...

Along the shore
I plant seeds
roots stretching unseen
threads searching for the soil
...

It asked not for light,
nor to tower toward the sky—
just earth for its roots.
...

I am a candle burning steady
though the wax melts unevenly
longing for a hand that steadies the flame
without being asked
...

I am a sinking ship with sails still raised
pretending the water isn't rising past my ribs

I drift carefully, afraid that reaching for the shore
...

thin steels
plowing the soft ground
where roots grew beneath
trimming each
...

By thread and fold, by stitch and seam,
This blanket holds my every dream
Let it warm the one I love,
With hush of stars and light above
...

If you must sail,
then go
but carry my weather in your chest.
...