it starts as a scratching
a small wildness
in the bottom of you
it moves onto a tapping
insistent
woodpecker on your window sill
you think if you crawl further
under your own tree fort of hair
you can ignore the swelling
the waves crashing
petulant
tides
rocking your boat of a body
off shore
but when the tsunami comes
for your stubborn heart
you will finally
know
this is it
we collect words
under our tongue
sharpest bull thistle
sighs
we stuff love
in our teeth
hollow spaces
make for calcium
rich
nests
you said
while tearing out a molar gift
with pliers
we make an english maze
of morning thoughts
run wildly
down corridors
in fits of fever
tumbleweed headed
aloe sticky fingers
the sun slinking
like an alley cat
on our horizon
i decided to keep count
all of the dreams
you had
while we were
in space
even though
you
being you
could not stop
lacing straight
lines of string
between our
shared constellations
even though i
stroked your sleeping brow
with one hand
while
snipping all of your
meticulous webbing
into floating
string
dandelion pods
you would wake up
collect your bits
of serious
crying out from the
ceiling of our
vessel
we belong on earth
where everything makes sense
where you and me
are at our very best
i would say
one hand on the
hatch door
have you ever dared
to cradle the sun in your
hands
ever renamed
the stars at their
very last gasp
swallowed the darkness
between planets
well perhaps 
earth is not
the only
chakra
when i asked you if you had ever
danced barefoot
howling into the darkness
of a southern thunderstorm
you demurred as you do
deflecting the very thought of
my rain soaked body
understanding only
the animal desire
to hunt in the most
dangerous times
mouth filled with angels
fists grasping
how love is created
instead of responding
you did that little thing
(your gift)
to know many faces
or maybe they are
jesters caps
or maybe a test
to see if i am
the kind of smart
that makes you
less animal
less tick tock clock
and more
a perfect
shadow
