To make love in concrete
you must start while it’s
still impressionable,
before it settles. Then it will
be indelible, imprinted
on your walkway for
the world to see.
But if you fear close contact
cement under your nails,
you can wait for lines to appear,
cracks caused by upward
pressures, roots and such,
and assemble them to
look like love.
Years later, even after disasters
that rock the ground, overturn
stones, I think you would still
find it there in the rubble;
love is that kind of thing.
The Louisville Review, Volume 52, Fall 2002