petal

you call me petal and you have called me this
for thirty years and

       you say the long stalk of me is
       bear grass and bloom, and

                     you say: stay.  you say
                     stay as long as you can, stay as long
                     as you want.

                                   and you
                                   whisper of past and sad possibilities, and

all i can know is your body twined
in mine, skin and skin and skin and

       quiet.  and we are two.
       carefully, gratefully, and
              
                     we each hold the soft,
                     the secret, and the tenderest part of the other, and 
                     in my mind, i stay.  but i am already on the plane.