With this body all under such sun. With this
sun as swollen as a body, I watched them
dip their toes along the cracks of the river,
red with myself. Their faces flush with wine
while the heart whines its hushed pizzicato.
She, who squirmed under his gaze like a fish.
He, who demanded they practice kindness
could not stop her raised goosebumps from
painting her like Seurat. I shadowed them,
scorned them, haloed them with gold rays
thick as bands. The happiest moments of my life
were spent waiting for nighttime. They never came,
but I took the long way around the earth, waded
in the years. The bees made the flowers shiver;
the woman could not close her mouth to dreaming.
Lord, all the roads we never took. With this body
all swollen, all stung—I sunk myself into the river.
2026