Poems by Adeah Reitsma

ambiguity

rain splattered spots on my nose

your glasses speckled and,

dripping

I thought of how the wind that ruffled our hair

felt like a different temperature to each of us:

you felt winter in the dawn of spring

lately you’ve been kissing me

and you said my core feels warm,

like summer

your reflection in the muddy, oil-spill puddles
is just as distorted 

your thoughts

[untitled III]

art is

in the way you flick flame

from a lighter –

fleeting heat

art is

how smoke dances around

your lips, curling and

fading upwards

art is

the sound of a breath

inhaling softly,

puckering pink

art is

everything in the way 

i loved you:

an artist merely observing.

after

I.

lightning flashed outside my window

leading to nowhere

is it raining where you are?

delete the messages, go back a few days

forget

(but please don’t burn the letters)

no, i don’t hate you

i just can’t unsee how you looked

naked

underneath me

II.

funny, isn’t it

how you can say you loved someone,

and mapped out such an idyllic life

but all it came down to in the end 

was a drawing of a dick on a picture of 

your face.

i’d like to think you’d laugh

if you saw it

but i guess this is my way of 

saying i’m sorry, too.