Optimist

Open your hands, if you want to be held.    --Rumi

I see you
seeing me
and that sweet spiral in my belly
catches on a quick breath
rising with the sweet leap of faith
and a shining thing, a light fantastic
being takes on its own shape
and fills the space between us.

I didn't think there was room for faith in here
no food to sustain her and yet
she lives inside my mouth, a happy animal
dancing up to give you a toothy grin
and maybe take a little bite of you
(it's just a little bite)

She likes the taste of love;
she loves the taste of music and she hears
the soul that lives in your fingertips
in your hands that press and stretch
blind space into songs that catch the animal
and turn her upside-down
empty her metaphysical pockets
and leave her breathless
as a thing newly naked.

She's a good animal, faith.
She shows her teeth
to desire, scares off loneliness
and has no fear of fear.
For her there are no cages
nothing to cling to or let go of
only the space between one glance and another
one note and the next
where possibilities live and everything is infinite;
such a sweet shining mess it all is
and this is where I live now
when I see you seeing me.


KB ©4/13/15