September 12th, 2010

our love is made up of
starts and stops
little packets of time
three days
two days
twenty minutes over the phone

we have become efficient fighters
we deal with misunderstandings while packing up the car
while searching for keys we have to get to the conclusion of an argument
nothing with us can be left incomplete
we can't just leave a room and come back to the disagreement later, once we've had time to think
we don't have time
we race through the pain and get to the core of it
because we will have to go days
weeks, sometimes,
before we are together again

our love is a test in goal-oriented living
we fit the sex, the fights, the sleep, the meals
into tiny parcels of time
let's get this over with because the sun is setting/the wind's picking up/the snow is threatening to fall

sometimes we sleep longer than our bodies want to
but this is not the luxury of leisure,
this is because, like camels,
we have to store up the cuddles, the sleep-addled limbs and the pillow talk
with which to quench our thirst later
when we are alone