she’s looking at me
and I’m looking
at a wormhole
my eyes in her head
flap-jawed
a mouth
a mind
a runaway train
i am the blood
that made me
hot hot
as the I-
land of its source
it’s a choice
letting that fire run
capsize my head
bang the nail
until its dead
i’m really seeing it
now
putting my hand
in the earth
pulling up
root vegetables
elephant hearts
car parts.
reach until I
hit lava
digging around
in dino bones
recycling bins
sifting cards
i can’t read
but not because
the spanglish—
the handwriting
it trips me.
coffee coffee caffeine please
three heads on repeat
she’s telling a story
when her bra fell off
in Denny’s
deafening laughter
that was yesterday
a decade
double that
me
slinking off
cradling silence
and the giraffe
wallpaper in the
bathroom stall
is still here
reminding me—
a time when it was safe
to be happy.
we weathered that storm
her daughter died
came back
a voice
like warm water
no thing can break
you now
a lie
suits of steel
bullets boomeranged
birds of steam.
there’s still a house
to clean
blink blink
here comes
that black drink
again
clanging of spoons
like a clock
in my throat
pour pour repeat
while i quietly
rip the gear out
pray no one sees
they sip
i shape shift
right here
at the table
bits of stubborn bone
falling to the ground
what used to be
my feet
parts that stab
parts that break
parts that bent
you
i want them gone
miami nights
we drank jet fuel
then tried to lay
in bed
laughter that made
the sky clap
a day in the sun
that left me
with aloe on my back
at 4am
not her
a rainy bus ride
arms stacked
with damp groceries
a bus stop
a herd of cats
her hands
my hands
a looking glass
mom fell
on rollerblades
tell people
it was a shark bite,
we said
sounds tougher,
we said
but she’s tough enough
she taught me that
women with fire
in the lungs
my blessing
my curse
coffee’s gone cold pay the check tears escaping in the parking lot we embrace my pain her pain she takes some feel it in her chest blood works that way too.