Careful

When first in love
we gladly live
a lot more carefully
than we do
when we are not. 

Make it last forever — drive slowly,
eat slowly, sleep
more delicately,
unsprawled,
not kicking covers or
the beloved or
the beloved’s
annoying cat.

When it comes to sex, though,
we do a lot of edge walking.
a bunch of monkey wrestling,
a heap of knot licking.  

But of course:
sex when first in love
is wild, the wild way
of spitting at death, wild
as not acknowledging
the ultimate way
these things can come to an end.

Careful, careful,
some folks say.

And we are,
just not while danger
is still rock hard
and blue
hot.