Say surrender. Say alabaster. Switchblade.
            Honeysuckle. Goldenrod. Say autumn.
Say autumn despite the green
            in your eyes. Beauty despite
daylight. Say you’d kill for it. Unbreakable dawn
            mounting in your throat.
My thrashing beneath you
            like a sparrow stunned
with falling.

Ocean Vuong, from “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous,” Poetry (December 2014)