Rooftops

There is a rooftop

Deep in Chinatown

Where you have never been.

At night,

You can see every light in the city

Glimmering like stars

You want to go

And I will take you.

Come, follow me

Up the metal ladder.

Do not be afraid.

It is sturdy

Like the soul of a warrior

And will not sway

Under your weighty boot.

Place one foot atop the other,

Balance on the narrow rungs

Until you finally reach the plateau.

Now look down.

The twinkling lights

Make you gasp,

Make you a little bit dizzy

At first.

The twinkling lights

Reflect in your eyes

So to look at you

Is to peer

At the night sky.

You draw in the light

Until it fills all of you

Until you hold the universe

In your thin chest.

I unwrap you slowly,

Layer

By delicate layer

Like an onion

Until you wear nothing

Except your own pale skin.

I have dreamed of touching nebulas

Opalescent birthing of a star

And I do.

I touch you

Here

On this rooftop,

Slide hands across the celestial glow

Here a shoulder blade,

There a navel.

My fingertips

Kissing you into awareness

Kissing you into transcending

Yourself, this rooftop in Chinatown.

Now that I have touched you, young star

Now that I have anointed your breast

With the almond oil I keep in my pocket

For moments on rooftops such as these,

Now that I, too, am no more than a piece of cosmic dust,

Let us soar

Above the city

Above the lights

Above the stars.

There is a rooftop

Deep in Chinatown

Where you have never been.

It’s clear and warm tonight,

And you want to go.

Come, let me take you.

Come, let me take you.

©Harvey Rabbit 2004