stayed.

tambourine and tangerines and the oils on your fingers
smeared across my camera screen
careening cars outside screech
hearts start
chest opened by the unbuttoned shirt
unbuttoned by chipped fingernails, the dirt beneath, the germs
always find their way to me

tender skin and waiting skin and broken skin
openings close
closings die
dying for a first time
living for a second
seconds in a broken encounter of skins refusing to stay
dropped in a broken glass, shattered in place
after swearing, after starting, after all
broken we stayed
we stayed in place.