Spit

An hour after we said goodbye
I still held your kiss,
A sweet acid taste
Between cheek and teeth,
Tormenting me with its separateness.

But one kiss
Would demand all the rest,
Until the palate
Swilled them all ashore,
As mermaid's tears to die
In the old gill nets.

So farewell, love out of time,
That I may remember
This one kiss only,
That I may not forget
You in commonplaces.

But as a nun's kiss rather
She will keep her chaste beads
Floating the mysteries
Among the enamel arcs;
As an ambergris
Undiluted
By Ulysses' cunning,
By Neptune's lecherous seas.