chivalrous and butch,
her rippling soft muscles
open my car door, drive me home
she shyly wishes to touch, to kiss
till I walk through the door

we could be squished
softer now than we've ever been before
yet fuller, more common and true
existing not as pearl but the ocean,
gently lapping on the shore

my lover offers a kind of provision
against the sharp misunderstandings of
death, men, psychiatrist, and priest
with a mirror held up
I see femininity in its wholeness
I see a love complete

what is a lesbian?
but woman isolated
and therefore—ideally—
unencumbered, nearly pure
the nebulous female civitas
only existing in fantasy
or poetry, or

in my lover's arms and lips
her unladylike,
undeniably woman,
touch