The body was found
haloed by flies—& I looked beautiful
in their thousands of eyes.
Didn’t I? Tell me
Didn’t I? Tell me
how every eye
is more than a window
into a childhood’s October-
is more than a window
into a childhood’s October-
red heaven. I write my name
backward for you
backward for you
to read my body
in your own
forsaken reflection.
in your own
forsaken reflection.
•
I came to—to the sound of a river
breaking through my front door. The wall: as white as
god’s unbroken bones was the silence written there
until I turned off the lights. The water was rising
to my lips. I held my breath, forgetting how
to cave the last eyehole to earth. So I shut my eyes
& breathed—tasting the blue of dawn
flooding my lungs. The sky
was quiet.
breaking through my front door. The wall: as white as
god’s unbroken bones was the silence written there
until I turned off the lights. The water was rising
to my lips. I held my breath, forgetting how
to cave the last eyehole to earth. So I shut my eyes
& breathed—tasting the blue of dawn
flooding my lungs. The sky
was quiet.
•
