flooding my face with salt
the ocean sweeps over me
I can't rub it from my eyes
so I cry acrid tears
flooding my heart with love
your body sweeps over me
I can't rub you from my mind
until I'm in the clear

back in bed you rocked me
like gently rolling waves
lulling me to sleep
with tearful kisses, clammy hands

one kind of pain
is at other times a joy
sometimes I like the taste of salt
others I can't take it anymore
I associate the taste of sweat
and tears and open sea
with you and with your damp sheets
and the kisses you give me

floods my eyes, saltwater
I cry it right back out
running from breaking waves
streaming from nose and mouth
if I took cover with you
it'd taste the same to me
flooding my heart, saltwater
rinsing it clean again

one kind of pain
is at other times a joy
sometimes I like the taste of salt
others I can't take it anymore
sodium chloride lover
you taste so basic to me
bitter in large amounts
you're poison without a filter

back in bed you rocked me
like I never thought you could
lulling me to dreamland
with all the wishes in the world
I associate the taste of the open sea
with the taste and feel of you
I drink water that's cold and pure
to wash my heart clean of you.

© Jess Zelhart, 2005. Thou shalt not steal.