My limbs dangling in the jungle gym, 
becoming the knot of an albino python,
and jaw breakers--

jump rope with two bodies-- 
i severed-off my legs in the sand box--
stuck in the ground like 
the trees crooked finger bones--
abandoned my arms still limp 
on the monkey bars-- 
my father used to hold me up by
my waist to help me cross
each rung--
and there i discovered what it
felt like to walk on water
from a jungle gym-- 
you can't blame me for wanting to 
become a serpent--
i was never
a person likely to make 
much use of my limbs anyway--
spent too many afternoons on my
stomach from the candy shop floor 
waiting for stray root beer barrels 
and strawberry jelly candies--
unhooked my jaw in anticipation
for the consumption of 
an entire world scrubbed clean 
in the glare and flicker of linoleum-- 
elect me in lavender-- in a
body fresh as a stove top coil--
i'm only hot as your morning--
warm me under the blaring
neon sun of the ice cream parlor--
don't mind me-- i'm just waiting for 
you to misplace a gummy worm--
sweet tooth sunk deep into
my own forgotten limbs--
this licorice rope is my body--
make penance out of a hand full of
jawbreakers--
what do you know about the snake who
eats their tail?--
or about the human who bites
their arms in an attempt to 
feel remorse for some sin
they might have once committed
with sweet fangs--
how many pounds of juju bees 
did you need to lose your teeth?
when you're tired take refuge in
a fist of taffy-- pythons are easily
mistaken for the flavor banana--
i shaved off my hair 
from the side of sand box where i 
hid my legs--
there was the ancient ruins
of a sand castle but
only you and i would have known it was there--
skip rope with the long-hair
girls when they sing
apples, peaches, pears, and plums 
tell me when your birthday comes--
so i answer with an unhinged kiss
and a mouth three jaw breakers deep--
they never teach you what to do
once your mouth is full--
apples peaches pears and plums--
i'm as old as the knee caps 
tied into a spine of a tree-- 
older than a spool of taffy 
or sugar geode--
i became
a python to be able to eat jawbreakers--
gulp the long hair girls 
and their baskets of apples,
peaches,
pears,
and plums-- the apology of a bruise--
the impatient hum of an empty candy shop--
arms still dangling from 
the monkey bars--