Swallows Broaching the Sun

she waits for the worst. knowing it's coming. same earthquake. different places.

she carries the doll. by fraying limbs. same blood. different tears.

the math tries to know us. maybe, occasionally, it even does. the forgiveness of numbers. in divided skin. talking to the clowns. reasoning with the choices. as if they were ever ours.

the mud. where she crawled. the snow melting where she slept. the masks. cold accessories to so many murders. the truth. trying on its lies again. it doesn't fit. but it will. if we are patient.

the world in missing elephants. the things we couldn't take with us. calling us back. to look again. at what it was we had. and what we thought we didnt'.

we travel. as if we've been everywhere. we arrive and we leave the same. as if we were never there. digits on the counter. winds on the cliff. strangers call god. when they are afraid to jump.

the hole in her belly that is certain. that the dead still listen. long after we can't hear them anymore.