Sometimes Im Frightened by Ellen Bass Lyrics

by how much I need you. It’s raining this morning.
That hopeful sounding on the roof.
I can almost hear the roots
suck water through their fragile hairs,
raising it through the tough trunk
into the cloud-shaped canopy of the live oak
and all the sweet bright blades that startle up overnight.
When you recede I feel how ragged I am.
The clouds are torn into bits. Each separate drop of rain
like a moment of needing you. Most of the time
I don’t notice. I go about pretending.
I walk to the bakery. I buy a round loaf of bread.
I can kiss you. I just can’t keep on
kissing and kissing you. Even though
that’s what I want. To fall
asleep with your lip between my teeth.
Sometimes I can taste the distance between us. Rain
trembles on the camellia’s waxy leaves and spills
bead by bead from the tips. Can’t you remember
being a child, opening your mouth to the rain?