tell him to stay away
and measure his strength in the
space between his steps.lick his lips for good luck
and when he asks you what
you placed beneath his tongue,
pocket the salt and
tell him sugar.carve his initials into
the bottom of your desks
with the dried gum,
and let your tongue…
If every rocky boat
had rattled each of my
heavy cages
the way you did,I would be
living off lonely reeds,
and you would never
have noticed
ripples outside hollow stemswhere water
rummaged though my bars.
