Marlena Raines
“Tell us a love story!” they told me. So I told them ours.
I. You were bashful when I met you
Quiet—self-contained
And you leaned against the doorframe
as we cheered—
Your name.
I tasted it once—twice
to make sure I got it right
Then the evening closed
and I turned my back
Unknowing.
II. Upon my eyes you fall again
Slight droplets in the pond
Yes
But rippling water
remembers.
III. This time
with the meeting
rings intention
I take the neighboring chair
Your shoulder from a distance
only whispers
to mine
but I hear.
IV. Fading fast
He flickers
Who toyed my mind before
Air suspends on friendly feathers
Falling
fast
My past
endeavors
Rootless flowers—I find more
in your kindness
Wit
Slow-hovering eyes
I know not this flutter
in the cage
Or
perhaps
I do.
V. I toss denial over my shoulder
while leaning over yours.
Proximity
wars.
VI. You cannot hide at a party
when everyone has gone.
The guest list falls
from postered walls
My shoes untied—unworn
Card tricks and music
Coins flipping chance
I stay—
Take your hands
We learn to dance.
We’re halting
and spinning
I’m laughing
You’re grinning—
We’re drunk
on circumstance.
Nothing can mean nothing
When the music turns slow
Hands on your shoulders
I feel
you burn below.
VII. Losing sleep
down limelit streets
Passing signs—they say you’re mine
But I turn my head
I break things—
I know.
Endangered time.
But no stories are written
until you’ve been bitten
by a heart overriding the mind.
VIII. So I go find you poring
over books—adoring
the knowing that comes
with time.
About time.
I remember
The beginning that began
in November.
IX. November
is the month of umbrellas
Little islands
of lonely passersby
But we share
You kiss my hair
Cologne mixed with crispest air
“Together” tasting like rain:
purest crystal—
alive.
X. December
turns us gleaming in the ballrooms
Concert halls—I fall
each time I see
you dressed in black,
Midnight dancing
in the gaze you’ve saved
for me.
But when the sun fizzles out
and the snow sets in
Heads bowed in frigid air
You still glisten
though in mittens
Fractals in your hair.
XI. January
left me speechless
on canyon’s edge—
King Lear
How chilling to leave a heart spilling
Painting striations
till all appears
gold.
How bold.
Those whispered words
They pass through hallowed lips
And over the waves they sail like ships
No fear found in falling
over Dover’d cliffs—
On winged replies
I soar:
“I love you
too.”
XII. February
is when they talk about it
It’s when I think about it too
The sight of our hands
and the warmth of your arms
The taste of your laugh—turning blue
into amber
night into day
Holes in paper so we can always
see the stars
To greet unknown turns
even though they may burn
We’re not alone
because We are
what we are.
Alina Martel | alina.martel@yale.edu