jasmine and orange peels

~ jasmine and orange peels ~


         On rainy days
your heart skips every third beat
as you fall asleep
with your curls all over my face

         in October
they smell of dusty Brazilian streets
bruised knees
and honey

on the bottom of
the chipped tea mug
         still clutched in your hand
i read our future:

we have seven children
         all boys and freckled
and in the grand piano
Tinkerbell sleeps on D sharp

i water the hyacinths
         by the chimney
with sad Bulgarian songs
and draw suns
and fish
         with my fingertips
         dipped in cinnamon
around your bellybutton

every day
you break my heart
twice before lunchtime -

         i collect the pieces in thimbles -

every evening
you leave a present on my pillow -
         a sunset
wrapped in dark blue

         you wake up
         when we're three hundred and four.