Teaching Myself to Miss You Differently

[Wjames]

Author note: Open to detailed crit, especially thoughts on the last stanza. This has been through a LOT of editing already though, so please be nice.

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We only have this timeline, but somewhere 
we are backlit by balloon arches, plastic punch bowls
my palm on the small of your back,  slightly awkward transition from line two to three imo. I might remove the comma in L2 and replace it with an 'and' and then put a comma after bowls. Just because as it currently is, you are backlit by my palm on the small of your back. I think a comma after punch bowls would serve to demarcate it from the backlit idea.
the satin forest of your dress swaying I don't know if you need the second 'of your' here.
 
and somewhere you are winking at me 
in the gender studies section 
converse squeaking closer 
to slip my number between the pages of Judith Butler for you 
 
and somewhere you are pushing me hard 
against the slick wall of The Eagle
sinking to my knees, your hands in my hair
giving each other something nameless and electric I really like these two stanzas. 'giving each other' may be a bit weak imo but it's a nitpick - maybe 'revealing' or 'grasping'?
 
but today I am teaching myself to love our untwined pasts
dance parties and midnight movies and porch swings 
contoured to bifurcated cities
 
and today I am leaning on the pressure points
of my loneliness 
cooking for you in an empty kitchen
tasting you beneath the blankets of sleep
corseting myself into waiting
with the ache of taut bowstrings I think this is the strongest part of the poem, really good.
 
The weight of your absence
transcribes bruises across a body reaching 
scanning the horizon of queer bars, diner booths, book clubs I don't see why you need both 'reaching' and 'scanning'.
seeding cloudbursts and autumns heavy with longing
so that your story might envelope me in heady embrace 
those precious moments we collide  I think it would be stronger without 'in heady embrace those precious moments we collide' - very wordy imo. I think 'so that your story might in envelope me' would be a strong finish.
 

Just some thoughts after a few reads, hopefully it's useful to you. I enjoyed it.