Exquisite Shining

We held eachother's ghosts,
a fist of sorts;  your blue claws
tight around my quickest vein, 

a dagger in my dark belly. 

A drum's chord bruised the rock
in mirrored waves; washed night
from limb, mist from hills. 

When you leave the bed 

I understand the sea, the quiet
deep organs of its body, the grief
of its constant pulse against
the waiting shore,

the way it shines exquisite

in the sudden brightness

of our morning.