You said my team


    Caught me off guard,


    vulnerable,


    the sudden declaration


    a war cry,


    white flag flying,


    dropping the gate


    and shouldering the shield.


    Shy lovers, until you spoke


    the words like sweetheart vows


    —your team. I am on your team.


    My team when I dash away


    from phantom fears and phobias,


    dreams that breathe in the day.


    My team when I sing loud


    enough to crash through the walls,


    disturb all the neighbors with my passionate solos,


    dramatic duets. My team when I curl up


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    in the cushions, caught in the floods


    of cruel colds. My team when I lull


    in the arms of sleep, carried up


    three flights like a coat draped over your shoulders.


    My team as I blush,


    emotion discovered mid-flight,


    seeking refuge,


    running into you like ceremonial ribbons,


    freshly cut.


    Hallelujah


    David was a fool


    to sing a stolen song of the divines,


    pining after another man’s woman,


    a stolen fling proclaimed romance,


    self-proclaimed divinity.


    David was a fool


    to claim hallelujah.


    Hallelujah crushes


    like ocean weight with every goodbye—


    we lie through our teeth. There is nothing good


    about missing you. About bye.


    Hallelujah rushes


    like the whisper of deer flying through the trees—


    I can’t wait to marry you.


    Other couples sing hallelujah over dinner,


    at the concert hall between acts,


    taming the wild wilderness of love until it kneels.


    Hallelujah is the silent death of alone,


    the brash declaration of choice.


    You leave me no choice—


    Hallelujah.