There is no vocabulary for love,
our Western tongues fumbling

through it, rude and poking between
our teeth. He says there are better

words, foreign and small, barely
a breath to speak. In Japanese

it is sometimes koi when we slip to meet
at forehead and thigh: He is six thousand

miles away and I can still hear our wanting-
    the sound of sand-
jeans against my jeans and asking for it

or the grainy sweep of his hand against my cheek.
    He gives
me ai next and it is a gift, full

as the lips shaking to speak it and leaning
on each other for support. He opens his hands

and leaves them, two kanji formed around the heart
printed on fingertips and traced on my palms.

03/09/2004

Author's Note: An assignment - triggered by Kimiko Hahn's "When you leave." ///// In Japanese there are two words for "love" - koi and ai. koi is always wanting, ai is always giving. In kanji, both contain the character for 'heart' (kokoro).

Posted on 03/10/2004
Copyright © 2025 Christina Gleason