The whale carcass:
our mother and our corridor;
we tie knots in our bodies to feel 
less empty 

hagfish
sold our jaws to the sand in order
to build the coral-- 
cut each other 
bouquets of sea lilies-- 
listened
to their shriek flutter on 
the backs of the mollusks--
we forget each other's names
in a tangle when we curl
knot
after knot--
pearl bodies into fish nets--
sexy and draped in mucus--
this is how we escape the grasp
of each other's hands--
i call you all sister 
because we each have known 
the underbelly of the sea
is rotting 
and waiting for us to feed--
there are too many of us to hold
tightly enough to a name to
remember-- 
tie these bodies tight enough
to form a memory--
our mother was the white
carcass of a whale 
and she named us all 
after her ribs-- made
room for us to walk through
her body like a corridor--
hold our sisters and silence
the sobs of another sea lily 
pleading to not be mistaken
for a bouquet--
our mother swallowed chandeliers
and candelabras to build
us a home--
drank bleach to leave
her bones white enough to 
fabricate a sun--
we watch her turn into 
a ghost of bone--
flesh for her children and
each sister has another name
to call her--
my mother was a corridor
and there was no where to
walk with me but
i wanted to know what they
call you and i wanted
to entangle my body with yours--
learn what it would be like
to remember a name for
once-- did you remember 
where we saw the sea lilies
or if they were only 
some other sister's recollection--
i lit the candles with 
the sacrifice of a jaw bone
when the crabs turn white as 
bone we know it is time
to give up on the mother 
who tried to lead us
down her hallways--
he have walked there-- sewn skin
into a vague promise to be
left with the turn of her spine--
the roll of the staircase
into the drop off 
of the abyss--
we protected her long enough
for the ghosts of the 
crabs waiting to take what was
left-- watch a soul get swallowed 
by a mound of sand--
candles extinguish 
under water and so in 
the darkness we crawl towards
a new mother--
call me sister-- sister
sister tie knots in my 
body-- i 
want to feel your skin on 
mine and i will ask 
if you remembered our mother
and if you remember what name you
have made for yourself there--
hagfish
traded jaws to tie our
bodies
in knots-- hold me 
and hang the sea lilies 
from the chandelier-- born
another mother from her carcass 
on the sea floor--