SEA, APOTHECARY

1

scale myself down, you

on the dock, dipping your
candied legs, each a

cuffed, curled treaty
bruised at the shins, you

working yellow purple
saturn rings, disks

to glow timed to dusk

2

out on the dock where the
pliant wooden moorings

screech their observations, you
built up a careful apothecary

while minding the polarity of us.
There you kicked at the harbor

sea, air gelled, filled with foam

3

the last time you saw the
doll child, an enemy

laying in state, a promissory

note from a guardian
tucked in the gown, you

playing your metronomical
heartbeat for the pensive

crowd to relish lust

____

"Sea Apothecary" is a love poem.