Villanelles (feat. Chris Thile)

I carried you up second avenue
Looking at couples and sidewalk cafés
And lonely men wandering home in the haze
I carried you up the way

I pictured you sitting on your stoop
Spilling your coffee on villanelles
And cursing yourself you began to yell
How clumsy the things that I do

You said
I miss your dumb warm body
I don’t know what that means
But I think that it’s lovely

We bought each other hardback books
Inscribed them with ice cream
That dripped while we ate
But petrified by your writerly looks
I simply wrote

Xo
Love, Gabe

That night you drew me oh so close
And gave me some grade school innocence
Kisses on the kneecap and nose and shoulder
You whispered in my ear no words
Traced them instead upon my back
I have to go away for a while
A trip to that side of the track

And so I’ll miss your dumb warm body