if you paint me
laughing at the side of
the road
or upside down
in the artists' studio
or speaking a troubled
good-bye
at the bus depot

i must paint you
lying on your back
in your attic bedroom
all of your childhood
ranked like choirs
of angels
hovering near

your parents downstairs
or gone somewhere
and me loving you
astride and
so intensified

loving you

you are like a hum
inside me
a song that gathers
and turns
that has no words
big as landscapes
mountainous and oceanic
as particular as a single tuft
of moss
one plankton
making love with you
is always going on
a song that gathers
and turns
that has no words
inside me
you are like a hum
inside me
a wordless song
inside me
always going on
inside me