Sex, Kink, and the Erotic: “Spectra” by Dare Williams

Spectra

Our bodies shatter
in the night
so that so many
stars come climbing
towards us.
We are not people
found twice
yet here I am
looking for you
in this galaxy.
We play
the songs
they recognize
all our favorite parts
rolled into one.
Oh how we sang
so loudly
the sky opened
and submerged—
happy incandescent.
We were the hands
we thought
we’d hold as time flew
forward and we
knew what love was.
Make this count
for real
make me believe
in mercy
the way a dark star
descends down
the night sky, it’s light,
a dress dangling
in waves of shimmer

Waves of shimmer—
dress dangling
glimmered light.
Down the night sky
a dark star believing
in mercy makes me
believe love is real. 
Time flies forward 
holding hands.
I thought bodies 
were wanted 
incandescent 
and open.
The sky sings 
loudly then 
submerges. 
I was you 
rolled into 
one playing
your favorite song
in this galaxy
climbing toward
the night
my body 
shatters 
into stars. 

 

About Dare Williams

Dare Williams is a Queer HIV-positive poet and literary worker rooted in Southern California. A 2019 PEN America Emerging Voices Fellow, he has received support/fellowships for his work from John Ashbury Home School, The Frost Place, Brooklyn Poets, Breadloaf, and Tin House. Dare’s poetry has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and Best American Poets. His work has been featured or forthcoming in Foglifter, Frontier, Kissing Dynamite, and elsewhere. He is currently an MFA candidate at Warren Wilson College. Follow him at Darewilliams.com