In the following sea,
we came burdened by
the wind’s weight.

In the dark,
the night before,
under constellations,

you held yourself
in an arc above me.
In the small light,

the one you pressed
against the wall,
I saw your shape.

We pitched
in the sea’s swell.
You and I, in that cabin,

trust and promise
bared, the harbor
chiming, now calmed.

Tom Schabarum’s first novel, The Palisades, was a 2011 Lambda Literary Award Finalist. The Narrows, Miles Deep was a Best Book of 2011 at Lambda Literary.com chosen by Felice Picano. His novel Airstreaming was published in 2012.

He won the 2010 Creekwalker Poetry Prize and has published poems in Poet Lore, Crab Creek Review, Floating Bridge Review, pifmagazine.com, Flights, The Breakfast District, and others. He holds an MFA in creative writing and literature from Bennington College.

He lives and works in Seattle, Washington, with his husband, John, and their dog Buster. Visit his website at www.tomschabarum.com