You never laugh, just snort a puff of air, crinkle
your eyes, and look away from me. Like water,
you have reached perfection by expelling everything that is not
you. And

---

you are joined by ever more of
you, as the streams which feed and purify a lake. Whenever
you cry, tears cluster on
your cheeks like almonds ripening beneath
your eyelids. And I would pluck them, if they were not also perfect.