—after Frank O’Hara and Katy Porter
Dear, I wished you heavens.
If not heavens, earths.
And if a little hell, I prayed the tears
I hid as wet, incandescent smiles
were an ocean on brimstone.
You are one of one.
I never said: Good morning, my heart
but I was the indigo in your hair.
I was keeping time when you danced.
I was stillness and tremor,
break and breach,
your pen and your cane.
No, I never said: I’m in love with you.
I said: I dreamed of a child
with your eyes, with your hands.
You are one of one.
The unrenounceable.
Do not fear death.
You’ll be beautiful
in the grave.
You’ll be beautiful
in the Judgment line,
the sun recounting sins
against our siblings for eons.
And the shadow I cast
standing outside your garden
will be our cover.
Dear, I was never lonely.
I was never cold.
I was wreathing our canopy.
Some day you’ll love Ladan Osman.
After the hours. After all light.
Copyright © 2026 by Ladan Osman. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on February 23, 2026, by the Academy of American Poets.