i'll be a man with
no ribs--

i picked myself
apart rib by rib
to rid my body of 
every remnant of you--
your commas your-- 
dried stems--
your tongue behind
my teeth--
you ate through
my mouth as if
my lips were the 
tight flesh of a
red delicious apple--
don't tell me 
about temptation--
next time
you want to share fruit
i'll be the snake & 
you can be eve
instead of god
like you always get to be--
i'll bite your ankles &
you can learn to wear my wounds
like i wear yours-- 
in the hollow
of my chest where
you once planted
a rib like the stalk
of a sunflower--
the bent neck of a cherry
blossom tree--
i am an april snow--
i could fall only in petals &
oh don't
we all want to know
when//if we will be missed 
& for how long
i want to know if you will ever
find a space within yourself
as vacant as where i dislodged
you from--
i have found other uses
for your ribs--
i stick them in the soil
behind my house--
one becomes an apple tree--
another, an empty
picture frame i
use to remember the shape
of my body when 
you stored a piece of
yourself inside me--
& i'll watch the cardinals
use those other ribs as
the base of their
nest & when their
children shed their 
downy feathers they'll drop
like petals or snow
& they'll know nothing about
what lengths boys
will go to own you--
i am your adam with no 
ribs-- your 
snake-forgiving brother
picking up
apples from the back yard--
i'm on my knees 
in the garden-- making
use of your bones--
i fill my chest with 
with branches & when
it snows in september
i'll collect the
feathers & send them to
you--