in the beginning, there i was, wrapped in muslin, soaked in myrrh
salt-licked, sweet taste, sugar lift and onion skins
necessary entomology; the flies in your ears sweep lightly
the cloth has been stitched just so
each cotton loop hugged the twill as it passed
rendering me cocoon and safe in burdock and sinew
the bees stuck in the resin, useless as powder and gloss on a hot afternoon
never had i felt so misunderstood.
rationality ate through me worse than hot acid through my plates.
the rats came floating up, dead at the surface of the bath
and the bees cried, the flies sobbed
the fat tears of communication dampening my paper, running all my ink
but the birth was not so beautiful.
ordinary, sterile
my body rancid with formaldehyde and mold
even the orange peels curled up, insulted.
the cellos in the back mourned
victory and eternal gratitude are lost in battle
the ships sink in violin and upright bass
brass sonnets, metallophone, golden eggshells
things always come and go, they come and they go.
turtle shies away from rocky shores
bull continues his lonely travel across plain and emptiness
i mesh with its curves, pulse along the back of its ridge
opening to earth and gravel, whiskey in my wounds
immortality has such extravagant disadvantage
it becomes lucid at jazz heartbeat, at bodily groove, at uneaten flesh
the rhythms cease;
silence follows terror, warmth is soon to replace an icy exchange
the rats awaken and slip out unaffected
our tests show no harm has been committed.
i am not satiated, my hunger rests on sleeping possum
that is not quite as alive
lay your had on whale oil atrophy, nest and riptide
beatitude and degenerate hypothesis emulate divinity
you will sleep on the bottom of the ocean with me and sigh and heave
the current carries everything away, recycles our bodies
our decay will go on,
we fester and rot,
to continue.


you kiss me, baby, in the coffee shop
you make me nervous, you gotta stop