"Coscoroba" by Harman Uppal
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
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_
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