Hummingbird painting by Rocket Worley, photographed by Tremaine L. Loadholt

I am waiting on a
storm that only tempts me
with its pressure–
stalling on its landing.
I see the pearls of your eyes
glean in the sunlight,
your hummingbird love covers
me, draping me in buzzing
wings, my guardian angel,
ready to defeat the eye.

every hurricane season, I feel you
caress my untouched breasts,
beasts of past lives
saunter in, cackling at my
distorted view of us.
I am Moses rising,
my staff thrown into
the pathway of raging water,
splitting it in two.
it is there, in the midst
of Biblical anecdotes and parables
where I find a sanctified love,
one that harbors the weight
of your trembling hands.

I want more of you.
I need more of you.
you stand at the brink
of falling, my heart as a jewel
tied to your back.
you carry…