all the ways we could get hurt

Embrace me so we imagine the hint
of our unhurried bones, the idea
of the beautiful flickering
in all the ways we could get hurt--
betrayed by the purity of light,
almost tender, the way a pianist
leans into the blistering keys,
staggering with rain, refusing to focus.
O my opulent marquee, my recipe
for shoes, bees, salt: stewed in a thimble.
Embrace me with candled crosses,
with the serious laughter
of symphonies, with the sadness
of harlequin hats. Embrace me
with the blowsy, minuet branches:
with the crumbling choreographies of chance--

[Sean Thomas Dougherty {1965- }, 'Embraceable You' from All You Ask for is Longing]