YOU, MY TANDEM ILLNESS, MY SWEETNESS

for Chen Zhipeng

You shove time back one year, ten.

You coax the gardenias to rebloom. Summer comes

and stays. You’re a rare texture

in time’s infinity. You’re silence, its own weight.

You’re the night. Eyelids gently close. You should become

my favorite concubine, temptation’s rhythmic breath.

You’re the lover who happens only once. You’re the softness of long hair,

will lingering at the willow bank. You’re a god

on a plateau, sitting up.