Sky kiss

Laying on my back I admire
the grey-cotton veil that
shields a tiny circle made of
white-fire-gold.

I can't watch for long but sometimes
the sky offers that fleeting glimpse of
immortality and perfection--things that
burn--
I can't bring myself to look away until
the last possible second, when the
just-right cloud drifts just
too far.

My eyes close and the world turns
cherry-gold
behind my eyelids, as she steps away
from her veils and kisses my cheeks.
I can't bear even this soft touch for
long; I'm too pale and half an hour
will sear me pink and sore.

But sometimes the blue sky
calls to me, and I lay on my back
in itchy grass, with no regrets
for the thousand tiny bug bites
or the strange pokes of leaves--
just for the brush of a
sky-kiss on my cheeks.