I / pump / crack / open / pause the iron hide / crushed fire of muscle / hostage to the weight I
chose to lift my pride / now thawing in the cabinet I locked / while bones rattle a crescendo to
wedge in salvation / and all I grow are chipped nails / Iron lord bless the cypress crucifix chafing the karmic stretch marks wreathing my chest / as they pull / my second life out of thin air / their knuckles shrouding fate with callouses / bruised eyes dressed in violent beauty / a jaw built like a church I study / I’m looking for their mother’s whimsy as their anger / gentle, electric / unwars my senses / untangles me whole / pats my shoulder as I / joy covering my face / offer a smile as dowry / I / ask for your name though I know it’s Cassandra / Mason, like the jars / for your home though I know it is here / Chandler, Arizona / I want you to know my dentition isn’t perfect / look closer and you’ll see a gap / but I say nothing / knowing speech would silence our language / stop us from breeding gods / becoming a planet ribbed / with volcanoes that give up / and into each other