I'll not contain you

Your legs are quivering bells, my darling--
the bells of a church or the belly of a flower,
they laugh at the touch of my hard tongue,
but I'll not contain you.

I'll not contain you,
though I found you in the earth,
smelling of earth, and your hot
weary hands pushed themselves into mine,
I'll not contain you.

A thin film of years
will grow over your vivid knees
and my restless hands.
We will hunt our quick lives
like packs of silverfish,
and scoop them out of the water,
like river stones.

I will hold these stones in my hand,
still I will not contain you.

At home, the yellowing curtain
of sky sighs before giving itself
to darkness. I found you there again,
naked, smooth, smelling still of earth.
Gigantic in your peace.

I press myself against your summer body,
and see myself contained in your
eyes of iron that are preserved
in mountains and in the sea.