holding on II

mist lies low 
over the city and 
the light fades

in here coughs and 
stirrings, paper 
rustles hold sway

somewhere you walk 
in your day and 
your classes

I am here trapped
fast and silenced by 
desked thought

We talk too much it 
makes us tired
our bodies weary

with movement, sated 
we are by 
each other, yet

grateful for the contact
our pasts drift 
free of us like

ships leaving
a pier -
what are we for

two breathing beings
negotiating
desks and ways

our tasks and days 
the frames of 
our lives

I miss much and 
ponder what is gone 
muse how to

hold onto what is -
the moments cannot end 
you say -

they make a 
stretching chain 
and there are more

to come -
I nod and 
am made glum by

the passing seconds
marking
our breath

time stands at 
our shoulders and 
taps his watch

his eyes are stark 
made wise by 
experience

I taste us 
like sweetness, 
your chin scrapes

my face like a knife - I 
bear your marks - 
erased into life

and the next act. 
how slack my 
heart and in-done

melancholy that 
cries for all 
that is gone

in desperation I
grab your hand
to try and keep from

drowning.  you 
smile at me 
and hold on

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