momently arrives
shaving legs smooth like ice
eyes, live
lashes like brushes, shutting on skies

i slip back
slow
into the bath
bubbles rising
can you hide in me?
can i hide in you?
can we hide together,
from the others?

kissing in the sauna
taste the sweat run down your chin
for some long time i stare, tasting nothing
then dirt and salt
where are we?
i've forgotten again
all i can see is your eyes
and i am spinning
take me from this place
make our escape

your lips drip sweat on your tongue as we kiss; but i am not close
i lean back, exhausted from a long day skiing
ah, can you feel it?
space, a million miles of frontier
can we have sex without sex
just lie back and breathe
close your eyes
the world falls like paper
can we sleep together
as if we were free?

we can feel it, you and me
an interminable savannah
i am walking
you are walking,
  through the windswept grass
you are me
we are exhaust from the tailpipe of humanity
at last thrown out into the indifferent air
have you walked with me?
have you been calm, like the ocean, far out at sea?
have you been me?
did we fall asleep together?
kiss my eyelids
hear my breathing
walk with me through the long waves of green
there,
  we are together,
    free.

 - "skies, closing," connelly barnes, 2008-02-01