a simple equation

I’ve tried to tell you 
who I am,
how we add up.

It’s not so easy.
The equation
isn't simple.

I tell you

my stomach is a tangle of blue Christmas lights
burning cold.

My heartbeat is a stream of leaf-clogged water
(something that an antlered-thing
once drank from).

My eyes are halogen glowing 
in office buildings at 11pm,

and my longing for you is 
a cat sprinting out of the dark 
across an empty street. 

Maybe
you can do the math.

This poem first appeared in Last Leaves Magazine, Issue 10.