Grass Eaters

To our lips
we sucked
at one another's hands
inside caves light stained
ingrown wire and corrugated beams
little boy memories
layered like worlds
shifting plate and sinew
among us stone
and marbled selves
eyes wide color squeezed
language stretched to fray
composed in jerks
crumbled of sudden
fallen through mirrors
in betweens multiplying
like sobs
To our lips
we pulled
at one another's grapnel cables.

mar 7, 2012

Our Bruise

The bruise you put under my lip
tucked up in the thin shade
did not clot
but burrowed deeper through
made a swell against
my hidden teeth
ached pressed into them
seared when i washed my mouth
hot with mouthful
after mouthful
dragged itself along the side of my tongue
back further than i can examine
arced into the smooth cavity over my throat
and fell or rolled down to all my weaknesses
pooling into the spaces where i am missing
spaces i coil around, tightly, pinching them numb
until even the arches i rely on
sing in tremble
from the joint of my toes to the heel
anchored and dense
your bruise rings even there.

mar 7, 2012