<\/p>\n
Three a.m. and this is crazy<\/p>\n
but I am full and crazy<\/p>\n
and I want words for Dylan<\/p>\n
asleep on cushions on the floor,<\/p>\n
rolling because it’s three a.m.<\/p>\n
and the lights are still on.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Dylan whose body is still whole<\/p>\n
after six years of world,<\/p>\n
who loves saunas and hot tubs<\/p>\n
and splashes of cold water,<\/p>\n
who snuggles in bed and on laps,<\/p>\n
who moves toward the touches,<\/p>\n
toward the warm,<\/p>\n
who jumps free into loving bed<\/p>\n
asking in clearest plainsong<\/p>\n
“What’s this all about,<\/p>\n
this lying on top of each other?”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Dylan who goes to school<\/p>\n
to learn that farts are to laugh at,<\/p>\n
that fuck is a word for frustration,<\/p>\n
but who comes home to lie with me in bath,<\/p>\n
legs around legs,<\/p>\n
while we talk warm talks,<\/p>\n
soften to the intimacy<\/p>\n
that comes with blessed touch.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Learn, my son,<\/p>\n
learn the best of me.<\/p>\n
Learn deep to remember<\/p>\n
through the wars,<\/p>\n
learn to remember<\/p>\n
somewhere much later<\/p>\n
after a hundred tidal wave confusions<\/p>\n
that touch is love<\/p>\n
and warm is wonder.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Out of nowhere in a peopleful room<\/p>\n
he wants to hug.<\/p>\n
Arms reach up.<\/p>\n
I stop everything,<\/p>\n
sink to my knees to hold warm body,<\/p>\n
feel the love in my touch,<\/p>\n
in his touch,<\/p>\n
yielding, surrendering<\/p>\n
to the sudden flow,<\/p>\n
one moment among a thousand hundreds,<\/p>\n
chits against the future,<\/p>\n
the bombardment of giggles and embarrassments,<\/p>\n
or roles and pretendings.<\/p>\n
It comes hard and fast, gentle boy-child.<\/p>\n
I have been where you must go,<\/p>\n
death and distortion on every side.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I will pray for you,<\/p>\n
pray that the ground in you<\/p>\n
built of the soil of all these moments<\/p>\n
these warms<\/p>\n
these laughs<\/p>\n
these touches<\/p>\n
these wisdoms<\/p>\n
that the ground will hold<\/p>\n
and keep you from the abyss<\/p>\n
that splits pleasure from mind.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Slowly, slowly, my faith grows.<\/p>\n
Faith in the strength of these seeds.<\/p>\n
Faith that the body knows all.<\/p>\n
Faith that somehow,<\/p>\n
through the maze of contortions and snares,<\/p>\n
you will flower in your springtime<\/p>\n
and leave barren desert alone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n
Three a.m. and this is crazy<\/p>\n
but I am full and crazy<\/p>\n
and I want words for Dylan<\/p>\n
asleep on cushions on the floor,<\/p>\n
rolling because it’s three a.m.<\/p>\n
and the lights are still on.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Dylan whose body is still whole<\/p>\n
after six years of world,<\/p>\n
who loves saunas and hot tubs<\/p>\n
and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poems","odd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nearbycafe.com\/loveandlust\/davidsteinberg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nearbycafe.com\/loveandlust\/davidsteinberg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nearbycafe.com\/loveandlust\/davidsteinberg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nearbycafe.com\/loveandlust\/davidsteinberg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nearbycafe.com\/loveandlust\/davidsteinberg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nearbycafe.com\/loveandlust\/davidsteinberg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1629\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nearbycafe.com\/loveandlust\/davidsteinberg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nearbycafe.com\/loveandlust\/davidsteinberg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nearbycafe.com\/loveandlust\/davidsteinberg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}