death bodies, strung

like pearls on a dark string

hanging, holding

each other and others

remember I cared for you loudly

and sometimes behind your back

DON‘T EAT ME

past the edge I fell

held

as a soaked pillow

as a bowl of fur in the sun

as a waterfall preying to a fountain:

isn’t life bittersweet?

I have no love left to sacrifice

I died, married, divorced

out in public but no one saw

undoing

I said nothing but I meant: I will swallow the world to give you the space to grieve

I’ll build a castle from the salt of your tears

a sensuous prison

a secret too precious to be revealed

she whispered: you are very powerful

and I heard: power is not to assert, but to care

and to trust

sometimes silently

sometimes unnoticed

dark bodies

tied together

spinning

until all the lights went down

whale