sleepwalk tightrope &
these furious butterflies 

i'm opening 
a nightlight
to empty myself of all
these furious butterflies
& legless beetles &
segmented worms with
eye lash knees--
i wait
balled up-- a pair 
of mismatched socks-- 
i learn 
to pray with my mouth
open-- 
swallow the moon
like a sleeping pill
& tie the tight rope
between my index finger
& my thumb--
i come from a long line
of tightrope walkers
& my first steps were taken
over niagara falls
while my parents held 
the rope at both ends
& falling was 
welcome & inevitable--
when my chest fills
up with raging insects
i think to 
myself
if only i could take
out my heart 
& rewind it-- pinch
its wings together & 
close my eyes long
enough to stop my ribs
from scurrying away
from the rest of me--
i walk right up
to the moon balanced  
on the taunt rope 
& i sit in the curve of
the crescent like
a hammock-- 
rock wooden moon--
spit out the last pieces
of centipede ankles & 
moth necks--
i'll walk back down 
from this tight rope
tied between my index
finger & thumb--
i walk everywhere on
a memory of 
my father's rusty 
guitar strings-- 
i wear a jupiter beetle tucked
beneath my tongue
like a pearl--
oh & all these furious
butterflies
that wing beat
beneath my chest 
fly out to 
give the leaves their
shadows &
i finally fall asleep--
slip from the cupped palm
of the crescent moon to
land like a rock
dropped
down into the great falls--
my body evaporated
in pounding water & 
i swarm
in raving 
furious mists--