Katrina Kaye

is the salty tongue

of the ocean

against my back.

All it is,
is stick on skin,

splash on hands, hair.

A taste in the
back of my throat.

All it is,
is water and sand,

debris in patterns around feet.

All it is,
is stars and a sky,

mist from yesterday’s shower,

a fragrance left to mix in the wind.

All it is,
is a breeze.

But I swear
it felt like your touch,
and this melody
of crush and curl,

I hear it
saying your words
in my ear.

All it is,
is dark,

but I swear
this night is a tapestry

hung over shoulders.
Rough wool against brown skin.

I feel you around me,

cracked hands

cradled

green and gold.

“All it is” is previously published in The Fall of a Sparrow (2014).