admit, their discourse untongued him. She thought to offer a milky glimpse of her braided interior, veiled though it remained by a haze of evasion. Caught between reciprocity & the cutting edge of pride, he produced a salve for her crown of sores. She bowed & retreated to her island of crystalline abstraction, returning him to the tender sands of his orphan shore, where he cultivated living colors & tamed the wild harmonics hiding in the interstices he hoped might one day bridge the gap dividing her from his desire.

Originally published in White Wall Review 40 (2016)