In Defense of Snooping

For my best friend Jess

If you leave me alone in your room
I will endeavor to know you better. I will
analyze your accidental piles and the things
on the wall. I'll take stock of new trinkets
postcards and concert tickets. I will slip
into your chair and concentrate on this dog-eared
book or what’s out your window and how full
the ash tray is on its sill. I'll read loose paper notes
and learn if you talk to yourself more gently these
days. I will judge what you touch the least by
the depth of its dust. I'll crawl beneath your bed
to see what messes you keep out of sight and
I'll try to find that thing you haven’t told me yet.
I may even peek at the drawer of your bedside table
and glean the frequency of new lovers. You will
come back with a scavenged snack and the stub
of a joint and believe we were apart. You are none
the wiser that I perused this intimate gallery
and left loving you more.