4.11.2005
Here’s how
Compressed
by the insuperable weight
of Jim,
I couldn’t find the breath to speak
the words girls speak
when they mean slower or softer or ohmygod!
Pinned,
I lay planning a
fleshy escape. Here’s how I did it: my body grew to fit with his; my legs swelled
and curled around him; my stomach rose
like baking dough; my ribs sprouted
bony branches.
From underneath, I saw Jim
stricken with amnesia, biting his lip and riding along. His hair again reminded me of bitter beer.
I laughed
to call him back and make him recognize me. Boys? Jim? Come inside,
back from the forest and your singular worlds.
But he looked at me with doorknob-eyes, not remembering my name. It was so
dark, I could hardly see him
either. But I could feel him giving himself to the night.
And I wanted to be with him. Here’s how I did it: I took his mass and converted it to heat; I took the heat and converted it to undulations; took the undulations, converted them to voice. For a moment,
I had nothing, not knowledge or humor or a name; I gave up all of that in a single moan. Then Jim heard my moan and made it rain all over his memory, took me and turned me into the sky.
Compressed
by the insuperable weight
of Jim,
I couldn’t find the breath to speak
the words girls speak
when they mean slower or softer or ohmygod!
Pinned,
I lay planning a
fleshy escape. Here’s how I did it: my body grew to fit with his; my legs swelled
and curled around him; my stomach rose
like baking dough; my ribs sprouted
bony branches.
From underneath, I saw Jim
stricken with amnesia, biting his lip and riding along. His hair again reminded me of bitter beer.
I laughed
to call him back and make him recognize me. Boys? Jim? Come inside,
back from the forest and your singular worlds.
But he looked at me with doorknob-eyes, not remembering my name. It was so
dark, I could hardly see him
either. But I could feel him giving himself to the night.
And I wanted to be with him. Here’s how I did it: I took his mass and converted it to heat; I took the heat and converted it to undulations; took the undulations, converted them to voice. For a moment,
I had nothing, not knowledge or humor or a name; I gave up all of that in a single moan. Then Jim heard my moan and made it rain all over his memory, took me and turned me into the sky.
