lights for a woman and the seashore. Collect seashells and recite the text while washing them in the ocean.
I place you in the foam
to breathe
and rattle as the sea-
shells do;
I’ll ask that you wrest
your teeth
from mine—
against my palette, thick,
and flush,
each day I sing to your
hollow
and wait for blush of your
echo
again—
your arching neck left beached
and bled,
bleached shells turn ash, and on
wind blow—
I only ask that you
say no.