Besting best

How can one

spend so much

in one day

without so much

as spending the day

won?

*

She is kissing me

with a mouth that flaps

like a dog ear

in the summertime –

loose, wet, probably

wrecked with worms –

and she asks

if something is wrong

and I worm my tongue

into a mouth that flaps

so she can hear my answer

outside her ear

while I wiggle, wiggle, wear

*

I’m trying my best,

though my best is not great,

to keep us together

and at our best,

though our best is not great,

because the best thing

we keep saying

is how great it is

to still be together,

though apart may be

the best besting the best