you stir and i respond (for a puppy)
you stir, and i respond…
to press upon you tenderly my love,
to bless life and growth like breath on fire,
to wash my hands over you
with so exactly the pressure of god,
as i would want the hands of creation
to wash over me, and put me to sleep…
you stir, and i respond…
temporary art on a wall at burning man
undust your grief
flecks of the living
settle this stretched
rhythm, this love
lingering; still
as i wet my lips
once again
autocatalytic (for a baby)
autocatalytic my love
for sleeping you spread
across my chest
ember of flickering
prosody, your breath
continuous with mine
Aidan Fitzsimons ’25 (aidan_fitzsimons@college.harvard.edu) thinks all poems are love poems.