Older by Stephen Jarrell Williams

I ache
between the shakes of excitement,
seeing what I want to see
under my cap of perception,

playing a harmonica,
dancing in a bad place
with a bad girl,

painting her gold
later in my apartment,

lost in her young years,
she does me and leaves.

Now angels floating over my bed,
sticking needles in my dimples.

I'm suddenly old,
wanting another day,
another night and spit between the sheets,

saying my prayers in this prick of a world.

Standing Over Me by Stephen Jarrell Williams

Holding me down
with one foot on my chest

I gaze up
at the underbellies of your breasts

wanting to touch them again
with the rest of your swaying

soft in the sand
on the beach you stripped

the both of us sweating
in rain and lightning

you laugh
as the tide rushes in

water foaming around my ears
I can't get up

you're declaring some victory
yelling out to sea

the next wave covering my face
with eyes blurry and stinging

still
smiling up to you.