All of life to fear losing
It’s all of life, half a human.
All of life it's the fibers of a shirt
And the faint scent that dissipates with time
All of life to sleep in a cloud
And to exhale and to inhale the same smoke
To wash the skin, pore by pore
And to discover that there’s nothing on the bottom-most bottom
And to dance without moving and to laugh with a spasm
And to go down on all fours in order to make the covenant
Between the women and the children
Who were carved from the same trunk* and turned into men.
All of life to fear losing
That is the whole picture I have of you
Curled up and pained and shivering in bed
Stuttering, breathless in front of the entire class
He folds himself into a doghouse
Rejects a first kiss on the threshold
Awakens to long hours of sleep
Punishes himself and stands in a corner.
She didn’t tell you anything when she hung herself
On the old cloth hanger in the bedroom.
She left the room and hasn’t returned since.
She left a crater in the ceiling,
Left winds in the cavity of the apartment,
Left you with a spasm on your lip**
And a picture of herself
Cruel and beautiful.
*also “race” “ethnicity” “type”
**also “language”