evening prayer

hands folded
in penitent-pose
clenched and interlaced
in front of my face
whispering only silence

like the breath
of the holiest ghost
and wisps of moonlight
filtering through the rain
hoping for the thunder,
something like
a god-proclamation.

kneeling
nose-to-nose
with the beloved
poised
to brush mouths
and noses

to sustain the quickened pulse
as lips quiver
but do not kiss
as they graze
and tug
and pause to breathe
from lust to lust

being still
doing nothing
believing everything
curious about this divine
this particular deliberate moment

calling out in the dark
bright as my digital clock
blue in this dark bed
nighttime and lonely

and a god on the mountain
falls just above the stretch
of my arm above me
as i grasp only the air
in my empty fist,
drawing it to my face
and kissing the rosary of
only my own hand.