"your room is soft
   but everything is shut up in boxes."
(i said)
"but they're easy to get to 
   if you know how."

   you opened up boxes for me

you opened up your hidenest box
   and moved things around
invited me to stick my head in 
   and breathe deep

              i swooped in 
               i inhaled deep
            and kept the dark closed up scent of you
                                in my nostrils
i will never let you out.

   you took out things from the very back
handed them to me
        i felt them all to get the feel of you in my skin
i will keep you there. 

you took out lastly a pouch
   poured it out for me to observe its contents
 i touched every one
    i pushed them into my skin

and finally you told me,
                    "try this on"














copyright 1997 Rachael Lee
Whatever woman i meet,
   i will compare her to Beth.
i will say, 
   do her eyes bore into me?

   do i tingle when she touches me?

   does her smile make my heart skip?

   do we dance
          do 
             w
               e
                dan
                   c
                     e
   when we hold hands on the couch?

Wherever i go, 
             whom 
                 ever     i     meet

i will say

   does my tounge love the taste of her name?

 does she sway like the night tide in rainy warm summer
(when i am alone and holding myself on an empty beach

                   bare feet?)















copyright 1997 Rachael Lee