My Back is Turned, but My Heart is Full by Kiri DeLandé

She’s an explosion of florals unfurling her arms, bubblin’

up bold from these sterile airport tiles. She wraps me up

tight, her embrace displacing any doubt that drips dark

in the back of my mind; my love, oh she loves, she loves

me. I am here in the Heartland, two thousand miles from

some place I thought was home, ‘til I found it for the first

time in her arms. Before her, I had never walked in a room

and made someone’s soul shimmer just by existing, never

stared in someone’s eyes and saw stars singing some love-

struck tune. Before her, love was a scarcity; I’d solicit it from

strangers, singing forlorn for alms in the streets. Now our

love is a bounty; I pluck it, bright red and wondrous from

sturdy hardwood, my wicker basket overflowing with our

promised fruit. It’s not forbidden to take a hearty bite of the

stuff, seeds dribbling down our chins, choosing the juiciest

fruit to hide in our skirts and save for later. Love; I think I

was cold before I met her; brittle bones breaking ‘neath

a winter’s storm, capturing sprites of sunlight in mason

jars and storing them for the harshest of nights. Now our

home burns bright; a fireplace flickering in our hearth

ensures we’d never endure another hardship. Flower girl,

it’s so easy to take your fire for granted when I know it

will always burn. For all the times you’ve folded love in

my tresses with each caress and teasing touch; for all the

times you planted love in the earth of my skin with each

kiss from humming hyacinth lips, for all the times you’ve

fed me love with fruit from your humble harvest, thank you,

my love, oh my love, for loving me.

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Kiri DeLandé is a Black, queer poet from New England. When she’s not writing, she loves baking bread, brewing tea, and admiring the moon. Her most recent work has appeared or is forthcoming in Moss Puppy Magazine and The Elpis Pages: A Collective. Find her on Twitter at @kismetmoon_.