For the Rest of Existence

by Maxwell Baumbach

I wake up every morning
feeling

your skin
                            my skin
               our skin

my lips
                       your lips
           our lips

our story
                                our love
              our lifetime

and eternity
before us

Early Afternoon Sorrows

by Maxwell Baumbach

1 PM

last night
a mere mental mirage
at this moment

the necklace on the bedpost

comes all the way around 
   the way she never will
is the color of love
   a word she does not know
is empty in the middle
   the gap she leaves

she scoops it into her hand
smiles her indifference
exits 

Our Love is a Constellation

by Maxwell Baumbach

the counties
villages
and towns
that stand between us
do not concern me

the stars
that form the loopholes
of Orion's belt
are millions of miles
apart
but it is still the world's best known
thread of support
and it remains
forever fastened