wax orchards

i will save a place for this
with the certain words
that my memory likes to pet
the street names
and lake names
and foreign words for avocado
china mountain
wax orchards.
i will cover you with tags
a bit like an autopsy
a bit like a charm bracelet
and the whir of the wind
will flap them
but not shake them.
i have my ways of keeping track.

i know what medications you're on
i will not mix the right moment with the wrong touch
i am like a pharmacist
in that.

if i tell you my favorite flower
and you never hand me one
does that mean you don't love me.
i should not think like that.


a.w.