he reckons I am a
           watercolor stain
      upon his pantaloons
how his very lips
could melt peaks from
      mountain tops
flowing into rivers
and yet I can't help
thinking
I am another flood again
and these stains on
my back
are from the last big wave
flirting with my own shores
but this last big
heat wave drove my shores
into salt mines
all over my wounds
waiting for them to heal

Dedicated to "Rooster" and to Elaine at PSKS

(Maria describes herself as queer and male-to-female transgender.)