View From the Bottom

I.
with the weight of a brick
a body hauls itself into water: feet first
sinking to concrete bottom, heavy-lidded eyes flutter
and meet chlorine and dust, warm
sunlit shards of light cracking
the surface of the water like creme brulee –
sweet and soft against a padded tongue.

in this place, i stop time. voices
have silenced, stilled. let this body
unscrew itself and soften
each muscle,each hinge molding like clay
into pool water rippling


II.
washing blank minds clean of memory,
the water heaves and shifts.

i let it:

fill each square, each shelf and nook
in the bruised walls of this chest
and run its fingers over each knotted scar,

fold me stiff out to dry
against cold cement.

III.
lungs press play back again
and inflate with salty air as time
rolls out its long tongue of tape.