— Will you stay the night with me and sleep so close that we are one person?
- No, but I will lay down on your sheets and taste you. There will be feathers
of you on my tongue and then I will never forget you.
— If I weep and want to wait until you need me, will you promise me someday you will need me?
- No, but I will sit in silence while you rage. You can knock the chairs down any
mountain. I will always be the same and you will always wait.
— It’s so hot here and I think I’m being born. Will you come back from Richmond and baptize me with sex and cool water?
- I will come back from Richmond. I will smooth the damp hairs from the
back of your wet neck and then I will lick the salt off it. Then I will leave.
— Richmond is so far away. How will I know how you love me?
- I have left you. That is how you will know.

Litany Carolyn CREEDON