delivery

knowing the shape of your fingernails
the strange way they grow in uneven shapes
even when you cut them deliberately, perfectly
knowing, noticing without trying to pay attention
is love.

there is some love that you feel like waves rippling
over sand between your toes, ebbing and flowing,
pulling and dragging, vacillating, but calmly connecting you
to the earth.

there is some love that drags you out to sea
takes you far from the sand and keeps you afloat
as it destroys you, pulling you to the center
of the earth.

there is some love you were simply meant to feel
beating on your shoulders like the cold massage
of a waterfall, to revel, to dream for a moment
an experience you were meant to collect and discard
like the crescent moons and the thickened bands
of your clippings