Who Can Recall Her Past Lives?

That summer wet yielding

Was a kindness I️ could afford

Only to a cult

Of mares

That summer the horses

Laughed

Like children

For the first time…

I️ want you to hold

That image of me in your mind

Until it becomes a memory

Of your own.

I️ still hold the feeling

of sliding the enemy deep inside me

I️ watched you draw satisfaction like two of god’s creatures, out of hiding, into an open field…

Luckily, you did not bury the survivor

You fed me everything

With your hands

And when we arrived at the mountains beyond where there are more mountains

We kissed…

In that idle hour

In a precipitous place

This was the sum of duty:

What could be a finer ornaments for our love than shears?

That summer I made you lick

All the water off of me every morning,

We never spoke because

If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything.

God’s hands have ten human fingers

And there is one He likes to use in me

While whispering

Waltzing requires dual partnership in my ear,

Some bodies must be honored

Once entered

So on His shore

I never turn my back towards the ocean.

That summer I️ watched a women

Crawl her whole body

Into a cowrie shell and wait hours

For the King Tide to pull her in.

That summer when it got dark enough

To see stars a succession of beeps would commence

To indicate small mechanical leaps of a heart muscle

Like attempts at flight from a hospital bed.

I️ pray you notice

There are several heavens involved

When the dogs take to pacing

in anticipation of the dinner bell…

That summer you packed

All of those Kingdoms

Into me to ferment

And to test how dense I️ could become…

That summer all we ate

Were wood panels off the cabin walls

The headboard off our bed

And stems and roots and peels of pomegranates.

That summer right before fall you said Sometimes

I️ thought I️ baked nettles, but I️ did not

Sometimes I️ thought I️ was miserable

But I️ was not…

That summer there was healing in The Name

And we found

Wine in the well

Instead of sugar cane juice.

That summer I️ tried to kill myself in a rental car

On a winter night on a two lane road from Briceland Thorne to Ettersburg

Honeydew I️ thought of you right before I️ swerved off the road

I️ was driving towards a place that is also a person with a name.

Before I️ hit the wall made of mountains that was also a maze

My eyes were closed and I️ saw you motion with your crying mouth

Quien vamos a velar? But you would not say it out loud to me

For fear of my reaction.

When I️ got home you asked me why I️ was late

Where I️ had acquired such a large plate from

And how I️ had known you were going to cook

So much food?…