Everything I Wanted at 11:36 by JJ Baysinger

On New Year's Eve, I fell for you, body first. 

Not metaphorically, there was no poem in my descent, 

Just tequila’s gold fire licking my throat, 

And a rain-slicked floor opening its arms. 

Before the Earth could swallow me, though, there you were. 

Steady hands, soft concern, something molten in your touch, pulling me from gravity’s hunger. 

Later, mirror-eyed ghosts swirled through the bathroom. 

Your sister said something about soulmates, and I spat out a laugh, 

The taste of disbelief was bitter;

I wasn’t searching for forever, I was seventeen, burning alive in the now. 

Or so I thought, 

Until I remembered the way you kissed my hair, and the way your touch turned my body into unsublimated wanting. 

And so, I ran, 

Through the night's open throat, breathless and frantic, to find you. 

I kissed you long before midnight, 

Before time could hustle the moment along, before the world could press itself between us. 

You tasted like the marrow of stars, 

Like something burning before it vanishes. 

And if I was but a space between breaths, 

Existing in your world for just that one heartbeat, 

Then I am okay with that. 

Because for that one perfect moment, I loved you. 

And in the now, I still do.