I want you to want me

I could roam around this skin
for weeks
and never find anyone there.
I want someone to crawl in
and let their eyes say
"I understand."

Inside my crushed eyelids
I want to see--
a response of rumpled caresses
I don't want the cold of winter
to reach my spine, hips, and knees
I want someone there
pressed against my back.
It could be you, (I thought
foolishly, sometimes.)
I wish i could feel
more strongly than this.

I want to whisper in your ear
something
that smacks of the soul
but i cannot.
i don't know you, at all.
I beg: Listen, listen
I need to be known.

You breathe only &
My whispered wish
fell on silent ears.