Echo
He grins at me
when I grin at him
Never first,
I’m not pretty enough
not pretty enough
for him to grin
first
grin first
first–
I hear my voice bend–
as he watches
a smile carved into the hollow
in his chest
a cavern–open
(perfect for Echoes)
Can he hear me yet?
He’s too beautiful
to see me but
Can I see him?
(I cannot)
“I cannot––”
I never learned to swim
I drown
in the mirror
drown
in
you
r
eflection.
Second Skin
I stare at his hair,
glinting in the sun.
I want to weave cloth from it,
braid it around my throat,
I want to wear him
thin.
I want
his head on my mantle
his hair in my mouth threading
me shut
into him
I stare at his face,
it breaks into light into
mine is it mine
I am wearing him am I wearing him
or he me or the hair is the mouth is the
sun in the
glinting I start I stare
at his hairhisfacehis
I wantto
I wanttoIwant
Make Me
Make me a tree, make me a tree
Sway to the wind, twist into branches,
Let us grow tangled, tousled, twisted
Maybe they’re lovers but maybe make me maybe
they are root-bound:
one cannot let go
as the other crawls, desperate
toward the green
sun.
leruaL
so the tree cowers from the sun,
her crowned sleeves split into snakes
hissing at the root of her skull,
root splitting skull, wood
through bone
tree rings bloom through her
tongue, rooting, splitting, rotting
breath gone to hiss
twist into thrones and thorns
a thirsty god would
make me