Myles Taylor 

A Brief Reassessment of Love Poems

after Bradley & for Kelsey

I have decided that life is too short for my bullshit.
We say I love you five times a day to our friends,
but spend months trying to find a goodbye
for each other with more clothes on & less hands.
We act like we are above our own heartbeats.
Love is the most natural, most human thing
I can think of & this is why we hate it. We all try
to bury our human under more human.
We grumble at anything that reminds us how weak
we really are. We romanticize unhappiness
& if I understood why, I’d be lying. What other reason
is there to be alive than to allow yourself stupid,
all-encompassing love? I gave a whole speech
about not letting society dictate meanings
& word reclamation the day I finally said it & it bounced
back out of their mouth like it had its coat
already on, ready to leave. I give up. I am ready
for unproductive joy. A dry patch is peeling into the shape
of a rose on my thigh & I’ve decided it’s a piece of love
that’s lost its way & bloomed early. One of my socks
is missing & I’ve decided they will find it under their bed
soon & think of me & I decide I have enough socks already.
I am snowed in & they are snowed in somewhere else
& I am researching scientific advancements
in teleportation knowing full well this country cannot
afford that & anyway, the moon is full & super & bright yellow
in their sign & when it peeked into our awful windshield
I was immediately happy just because I knew
that it would make them happy, & it did,
& this is only one dog-eared page in a book
older than the moon we all bother with metaphors.
Love is also the best friend sleeping on the futon
& putting up with my rambling. Love is also my mother
texting me pictures of our dog bounding into ear-high
snow. Love is the way you can’t tell if it’s started
raining, or if a swift wind has kicked up everything
the trees are still holding onto. I know you want
to find out, but why bother? It doesn’t make
a difference until you cross the street.

Suit of Cups or a Queer Love Story in Various Bodies (of water)

after Franny Choi