virtual love poem

i want to put my love
on a hard drive. carry it around
like a lost tooth.
in the distance, there is always
a www. where i can go to talk to
an old mouth of mine.
you used to lie face-up
in chat boxes, telling me 
"all i can see is nuclear."
fire works cross my screen.
it is a celebratory window.
typing. someone is typing. i want to be
the reason for a shut down.
your feet dangling over the edge.
the URLs i wore as anklets.
necklace of search histories.
who isn't dressing for the machine?
our first date. everything i wanted
lived in between the glow 
of advertisements. buying a new 
pair of eyes. washing beneath fingernails.
scrolling into your passions.
carrying hearts like a worm.
another & another. until the blood
is dirt. i sit outside to get
a better signal. plug myself 
into the soil. there is electric
inside every living thing.
virtual in the trees. clutching
a potato to get back to you.
digital bird falling into
a bad link. there we are. talking to
an AI about God. the robot admits
she has nothing at all left to say.
i am the virtual or you are too.
you are still typing & even the moon
has logged off. search engines 
in the basement. i walk down
holding a candle, looking.
trying to figure out
how i am going to touch you
or if i should consider 
the screen enough. warming my hands 
in the internet's light. 
you are not there at all. 
i find a picture of you though
or else it's just
what i want you to look like.
green & with a download. 
in another rendering you will hold me
& i will be just your exit.
once & then gone. windows fall away
like domino doors. i want you.
i want you to be real so badly.