Akin to petting skittish kittens - pumice tongues, briery paws Caressing flesh; - or undertaking one illicit act of night haiku, Stain to neighbor's walls; or angling sharp to yarny flaws, Judicious fingers set within another's cat's cradle clues: In these ways, too, we count contingencies, tiptoe a lonely, silent Waltz over the frosted glass pane heart of a beloved - Drill vigilance to wells, and watch expectant, penitent, violent Longing burning penny holes through sternal pockets. Knotted Lines aside, one may die trawling empty nets through cloudy waters; Once I daily fed a blistered potted window cactus plant For years - until it blanched, saved only when the planter tottered Off my windowsill, a crash uprooting a romance of soft glances scant By me interpreted as love. Long after fatal slips are made I greet the bloodless facts: there wasn't anything to save.