daybreak

                                                                             
we split each other open
then with bloodied hands
i brought in cords of wood
                                          for stacking

afterward, when my mouth had emptied
into yours and this tongue still tasted those breaths,
snowclouds rose above the mountain
                                  the spice of heartwood
skipped from under the maul

you touch me here
            you touch me here
and here

it was you cleaned my hands
                  smoothed salve on these palms
and held them to your skin

you gathered all the splintered spindles
and reassembled the forests

when that was done
we knelt together
                  by the heat of the woodstove
weeping for the carelessness