I have wondered why my body
looks the way it does in the sun.
Brow bone glittering, sweat
tricking like the last swill of water
down a glass, blood circulating
like clockwork, a gear so visceral
and rooted in its own
ringing design. My dear—what I have left
as I wait for its last spin
is the desire to learn. Every chime
my tongue hurriedly reshapes
is a word re-lost, relearned
in a space filled with quiet.
Body, ring louder—
let me hear what language
spills out of your skin
like a swimmer reaching
out of cold water. One palm
weighed against the gravity
of a flatline sky. Every pulse
buoyed in my throat,
every heartbeat rippling the calm