#summerbug

we are together outside and it is raining

and i love you so madly

i want to whisper it to you like we are children

because the secret burns me as i hold it in my throat.

can we sit quietly together under that tree, there?

or loudly if no one is around

(if no one can hear us, did we make a sound?)

its limbs reach all the way to the ground

you count the rain drops on my skin,

drink them up,

press your lips and teeth where they lie,

and leave a mark in place of each one

did you find any under my clothes?

i’ll search under yours

the riverbed floods and washes us clean,

as we drown into each other

it takes each drop with it

this thing residing somewhere 

in our self-perceptions

cannot be found or taken;

some lovers’ weird obsession.

it makes me want to be reckless with my body,

no, to never let anyone touch me

no one but the breeze

the summer bugs

and drooping limbs of trees

raindrops lakes and oceans

the humid, heavy air,