I cannot remember the day you 
Took romance languages from the planets
Rosy adjectives woke without you
And left before dawn
Rolling downhill without engines 
So as not to wake you


From the alveolar ridge 
Your thinning dictionary 
Opened on internal rhymes
Dangling parts of speech


I lay down
On the banks of definition 
Twirled favorite verbs around my fingers
So I would not forget you


But you are lost 
And destinations abound
In the text and subtext that rush to fill 
Idle conversation


You hold your breath
But won’t dance to the symphony
Of torn perforations you requested 


Is there a melody? you ask
Yes, it is created by
Unaccented syllables 


Not likely, you said
Adverbs deluxe edition


The final answer
Is that I can’t remember
The swarm of Hellenic letters
That distracted me


When I can open my eyes 
To the night’s syllables
I only lose when I’m on the ground