# days
# days
one two three four freckles on your left clavicle connect the dots with my middle finger trace to your midline
eyes north one shoulder off the sheet catch my hand
exhale
---
both shoes on on the edge of the bed for two minutes in two different blues tell me I'll miss you
cover the longbows in fret wire turn the fruit from rotten
leave your earrings behind not to see me again you just forget
---
three miles off the blue ridge parkway ninety-three million to the sun disc to point to gone turn
your cheeks no longer red drop my hand left my coat in the car
---
you bend at your waist pick a four-leaf clover
: my dad said I was lucky :
only after dark after milagro your palms against my chest pull when I recoil enough night lights for a shadow sticker on the mirror ripped away to paper
I pack starbursts cherry and lemon — a turtle from the coloring book all in a lump under your pillow
it's enough to take your keys back
---
ART
that night again not that night
keep my head still watch the LEDs bounce splice the tape actors jump the celluloid
abrade the faces choke on the chalkdust your outline still on the board
a brush steeps in the can fat strokes drop pepper on the sambas you bought me another coat three
: you have to forgive yourself :
I can't deliver at five months
---
Lucy
you step behind the wall dosimeter pinned to your breast pocket exposing me where did you go
I spin the dial clockwise six different voices in a second static interleaved like a child's fingers crossed in prayer
we lay on the artificial turf making grass angels until the rotation blocks the sun with a tether ball pole
pull the aloe from under the sink freeze your palms thaw them an inch from my skin slather me
---
existing on my manifold the Planck length of my skin
the air compressing between a picked string and my ear a nerve from fingertip to cortex
the moment language becomes dream the pink back of my eyelids in the dawn
you are my border my limit
---
leaving the angel in the valley I trod the mountaintop laughter following in silence the ligatures heavy across one shoulder
I lay my creation on the broad stone bind him by my will to my will
his pleas skid off my drums the sun in a drop of sweat trickling down my raised blade slick thud of steel between ribs
ink floods the altar pours over the gutters and stains the dust mingling with puddled vomit
I wrap the heart in oiled leather
---
Will
the ground holds the rain
what falls the sea pulls back to itself drawing mountain streams
comets leave no craters in oceans
salt drains from the boy the tide pools in his lungs
---
single file to the grasshopper's carcass
lift the glass the sun in a point
wisps of chitin
of skin
God damn it
---
raiments of seven colors for the emperor's delusion
arbiter — instrument of coin and queen
equal to none opposite to all
---
not my north nor my home but the fold in the map
not candle but rust or moon but preserved tread
not country or soil but scraping from under fingernails
not vapor melting glue not envelope or epistle but teakettle whistle
---
pacing from Alexandria the rocks pierce my sole through a worn leather sandal
the solstice in Syene I shiver in the black water
your noon light fills my well burns my face
---
snipped the black ring from my ankle
I called you kneeling in the walk-in closet t-shirts on old drycleaning hangers brushing against my back head knocking into the corner
you printed my prayers on thermal receipt paper shoved them in a drawer behind an empty film canister
held the bottle upside down smashed it on the corner of the fake granite hotel desk the neck tearing jagged red lines in the sheets
don't worry about the deposit you didn't pay it
---
wipe the dew off the seat pink east shifting clouds black to white squint before I pull the shades from the fanny pack downshift before the motor turns
lock up at the Y hop on pump
legs spent
haven't moved an inch
---
I thought dreaming you to open my eyes
and did so sighing in blind light
and turned kissing your closed eyes
---
pop your eyelashes one nipple a sunrise above the comforter your Kali hands tracers of figure eights
: will you do me a favor? pack me one more parachute :
I won't let you fall
---
: go play in the lightning a little longer :
never let me win king of the mountain skin red clay grains of sand cling to my scalp for a week
read me to sleep with tracts that look like twenties from a distance yawning I'm Peter flying before hills of burnt gold
thirsty I creep to the green plastic cup beside the sink swallow three dead flies in the bottom before I realize
wake me up before sunrise
: the time changed :
---
Puppets
out of the pool showering in bathing suits water flooding the weeds between the stone tiles
pinky up orthogonal to the rest my dog tries to bite the quarter off the ground it slips between shadow teeth
twisting over me thumbs interlocked your bird flapping against the pup's wet nose I sneeze
autocorrect tried to change shadow to affair
one two three four freckles on your left collarbone connect the dots with my middle finger trace to your center line
eyes look north one shoulder uncovered catch my hand
breathe out
---
both shoes on sitting on the edge of the bed for two minutes in two different shades of blue tell me I'll miss you
cover the guitar strings with fret wire turn the rotten fruit fresh
leave your earrings behind not to see me again you just forget
---
three miles from the blue ridge parkway ninety-three million miles to the sun disc to point to gone turn
your cheeks are no longer red drop my hand left my coat in the car
---
you bend down pick a four-leaf clover
: my dad said I was lucky :
only after dark after the miracle your hands on my chest pull when I pull back enough night lights for a shadow sticker on the mirror ripped away to paper
I pack starbursts cherry and lemon — a turtle from the coloring book all in a lump under your pillow
it's enough to take your keys back
---
ART
that night again not that night
keep my head still watch the LEDs bounce splice the tape actors jump the film
abrade the faces choke on the chalkdust your outline still on the board
a brush sits in the can fat strokes drop pepper on the shoes you bought me another coat three
: you have to forgive yourself :
I can't deliver at five months
---
Lucy
you step behind the wall dosimeter pinned to your breast pocket exposing me where did you go
I turn the dial clockwise six different voices in a second static mixed like a child's fingers crossed in prayer
we lay on the fake grass making grass angels until the rotation blocks the sun with a tether ball pole
pull the aloe from under the sink freeze your hands warm them an inch from my skin cover me
---
existing on my manifold the smallest length of my skin
the air compressing between a picked string and my ear a nerve from fingertip to brain
the moment language becomes dream the pink back of my eyelids in the dawn
you are my border my limit
---
leaving the angel in the valley I walked the mountaintop laughter following in silence the ties heavy across one shoulder
I lay my creation on the broad stone bind him by my will to my will
his pleas bounce off my ears the sun in a drop of sweat trickling down my raised blade slick thud of steel between ribs
ink floods the altar pours over the gutters and stains the dust mingling with puddled vomit
I wrap the heart in oiled leather
---
Will
the ground holds the rain
what falls the sea pulls back to itself drawing mountain streams
comets leave no craters in oceans
salt drains from the boy the tide pools in his lungs
---
single file to the grasshopper's body
lift the glass the sun in a point
wisps of shell
of skin
God damn it
---
clothes of seven colors for the emperor's illusion
judge — instrument of money and queen
equal to none opposite to all
---
not my north nor my home but the fold in the map
not candle but rust or moon but preserved tread
not country or soil but scraping from under fingernails
not vapor melting glue not envelope or letter but teakettle whistle
---
walking from Alexandria the rocks pierce my sole through a worn leather sandal
the solstice in Syene I shiver in the black water
your noon light fills my well burns my face
---
cut the black ring from my ankle
I called you kneeling in the walk-in closet t-shirts on old drycleaning hangers brushing against my back head knocking into the corner
you printed my prayers on thermal receipt paper shoved them in a drawer behind an empty film canister
held the bottle upside down smashed it on the corner of the fake granite hotel desk the neck tearing jagged red lines in the sheets
don't worry about the deposit you didn't pay it
---
wipe the dew off the seat pink east shifting clouds black to white squint before I pull the shades from the fanny pack downshift before the motor turns
lock up at the Y hop on pump
legs spent
haven't moved an inch
---
I thought dreaming you to open my eyes
and did so sighing in blind light
and turned kissing your closed eyes
---
pop your eyelashes one nipple a sunrise above the comforter your Kali hands tracers of figure eights
: will you do me a favor? pack me one more parachute :
I won't let you fall
---
: go play in the lightning a little longer :
never let me win king of the mountain skin red clay grains of sand cling to my scalp for a week
read me to sleep with tracts that look like twenties from a distance yawning
I'm Peter flying before hills of burnt gold
thirsty I creep to the green plastic cup beside the sink swallow three dead flies in the bottom before I realize
wake me up before sunrise
: the time changed :
---
Puppets
out of the pool showering in bathing suits water flooding the weeds between the stone tiles
pinky up orthogonal to the rest my dog tries to bite the quarter off the ground it slips between shadow teeth
twisting over me thumbs interlocked your bird flapping against the pup's wet nose I sneeze
autocorrect tried to change shadow to affair