Prayer to the Goddess of Lost Love      Adam Tavernier      To have and to hold.      Is there any other way to say it?      I could say flesh like cream silk as if      “flesh like cream silk” hasn’t made forests      of dark marks on every poet’s page.      But I do not have the flesh and do not hold it.      Do not hold her.      Ayako, I do not have you and do not hold you. Cream      through my fingers, and I’m still licking the places on my toes      where I think the droplets hit.

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