Directions

On the map of this exact body
locate your skilled fingers
at the place where my pulse
rises and falls—
slide south
to the hard V of bone that stops
hollow and delicate as butterfly wings,
where the flutter of the breezes
of one life travels in waking
and in sleep—
neon light vacant veins and blue
with twilight.

Here it is easy to feel
the trembling, nervous shifting
like the pendulum of an old clock
gears wound tightly
keeping some sort of time.

Here it would be easy
to rest your palm
or your tired head
above the rapidly advancing
momentum of my heart.
However, if you collapse here instead—
lose your nerve to go on—
I’ll understand.

I’ll offer you solace
on the nearby softness of my belly.
She has been the safe haven before—
the place where children grew undetected
and in the safe shadows of sleeping.
You can hide here too
if you need that relief
from the world
and all that searching.

But if you are brave
and hungry as a warrior
you may kiss the skin
on the roundness of my hip--
trace the flesh
as she sweetens
moist as morning
and opens her abundance
to all you have to offer a queen.

Red ruby glistens
with so much strength
and immediate welcome
to this royal place
on the road
so many others
have long forgotten.

Turn left where all other days
you turn right.
Smooth your hand
on the place worn and curved
like the stone basin
of an imaginary waterfall
now dry in the season
where no flood will bring relief
to unrelenting drought.

Place your feet carefully
on each stone
as you pull yourself
into the shallows.

The wonder
of reward is almost enough
to bring a smile to the lips
of a weary traveler
at the end of the hidden
paths forgiven for their troubles,
quiet as first light.