"Coscoroba" by Harman Uppal

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the sweet clasp of embrace,

our necks folded into each other

like the crook of an arm

and

heads tucked together

coscoroba swans nestling as one

we’re parchment inside an envelope

your eager, bony fingers dig

into my back

through my jacket i can feel them there

sharp like eggshells

but the nape where i find my lips

is ripe and subtle

the fabric of your skin

laced together by steady, dedicated

hands like the fuzz

of juvenile apricots

when they are still white

and stiff

it’s only when i stop breathing

you in,

inhales of warm cream and cotton,

that i find you wearing

my woollen sweater

your collar is linen

what was once white

like frost has become

the face of an oyster

why did you take

my sweater, i ask,

when i left it behind?

why do you wear it

now, wrapped in its folds

and coarse slopes?

i think of you

asking to be cared for

the way a farmer dresses

the little infant lamb,

runt of the litter,

in the wool of another

who has passed away

asking

the mother sheep to care for it

the way it would care

for its own

tell me, now

why you wear my sweater

like an emblem

when you greet me

and why

it took us this long

to once again find ourselves

in each other’s embrace

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Harman Uppal is a struggling twenty-something Sagittarius who spent two years at a Catholic school and another seven at an all boys' private school—completely unrelated to him being queer. He's passionate about the indoors and writing things he thought no one would ever read. He can be found avoiding twitter suspension or trying to save his dying plants.

Twitter: @dilfpickle_