With a soft push from my tired lungs
that instant forever changed
our lives; in search of higher ground as the river swells,
teasing the top of the levee,
a joyous cry rising to an adulterous roar,
mocking the root of its being
while choking on its story.

I tried to retrieve the sound but was hopeless;
like failing at suicide or curing my cancer
but still standing, or waking
in the morning
to find I had misplaced my tongue.

It made a mad rush for your ear. It could
say anything as the words reform;

a confession or a half
confession, an abrupt ending
to the dance or a chance to die
slowly with you.

I want to fight the urge as much
as I want forgiveness
in the dawn, when you raise your sleepy eyes
to the solace of my breath
and say “I love you too”