a Picasso kind of love

he says…
evaluate love’s edges of
juxtaposing angles…
estimate the length of
constricting planes…
judge shadow depth of
ardor in each new arena

he says…
be aware of ceremony,
private in a crowd of
deflowered expectations…
where brave costumes
paint stark nakedness

he says…
beware soft warm mouths
that speak barb-ed words…
watch from framing stands
a ritual catharsis where torn
shouldering–weakened tissue
of resolve–flutters banners of
defeat in a final agony of
spilled lust and love

Bonnie Marshall

Artwork by Pablo Picasso

desire tumbling

above ambient light
robotic telescopes
observe on mountaintops…
and chart star dust labors
of long birthings
in clouds of nebulae…
catch red dwarfs dying
their insanities of edge
all in light years tumbling

as inside that frigid vault
lovers close embrace
wrapped deep in down
their edges joined…
dispersing with the universe
through insensate space
mingling dust to dust
and tumbling in desire