my intelligent mouse (is you that i call sweetie and)
makes me clumsy and stumbling with the sincerity
of your thighs and the crossing of your fingers
knotted in surprise. the tonsils of your voice arched
against the empathy of lingering skies coerce distant
pearls to dance in time with your hips, making me
and all others myriad with me grateful for the blanket
carried beneath your arm. and if I said mouse I said it
truly as metaphor for a creature found only in dreams,
longer and lovelier than the slide of candlelight drippings
this evening and you’re a lasting rhyme upon my tongue,
sweetie

Richard King Perkins II is a state-sponsored advocate for residents in long-term care facilities. He lives in Crystal Lake, IL, USA with his wife, Vickie and daughter, Sage. He is a three-time Pushcart, Best of the Net and Best of the Web nominee whose work has appeared in more than a thousand publications.