# #shoes

2 poems

## [AS 21](https://chromato.graphics/as21)

if you’re hearing this,  
it’s ’cause i trust you.  
there’s a lot of detail,  
high resolution scans.

i take an early flight.  
nothing good is easy.  
_what am i forgetting?_  
chocolate orange peels.

i program on the airplane  
to distract from humming  
in my eardrums; an engine  
whirring to life in my chest.

she applies the night before  
risks her body just for more.  
she knows she has to see it  
before i remember my face.

jetway’s made of glass,  
eyes have steel blades.  
_what am i forgetting?_  
54-inch red shoelace.

_“do you want to get the  
fuck out of this airport?”_  
she picks up both bags  
before i can say a word.

she borrows a tapedeck.  
i hold her knee. _is this ok?_  
the postal service can’t  
ship this in a flat rate box.

distance desires ritual  
we find a matchbook  
_what am i forgetting?_  
ashen coffee. burning.

the next thing i know  
we’re at the terminal.  
lipstick can stain more  
than cardboard cups

**time stopped in total:**  
14 hours, 28 minutes

## [steps](https://chromato.graphics/steps)

now please, sit back  
stretch out your legs  
relax awhile —  
furniture begs

pull off your boots  
i’ll kneel below  
slip off your socks  
and take it slow

bare both your soles  
flex all ten toes  
your footstool’s goal:  
to be repose

our arches meet —  
my back, your curve  
almost so much  
i don’t deserve

a faint perfume  
teases my nose  
the smoothest skin  
so rarely shows

i’ll work them deep  
with oiled hands  
their perfect forms  
each digit fanned

red lacquered nails  
command my eyes  
and higher heels  
you’ve made me buy

bare, they stay – no  
decoration  
focus trained on  
adoration

pressed on my face  
i’ll kiss you there  
and lick the base  
become ensnared

kick or trample  
i’ll take the pain  
with shoes sampled  
my body strains

pleads for pressure  
that space between —  
the greatest pleasure:  
touch from the queen

release the jewels  
that flood within  
wetness pools  
on shining skin