i shipwreck

lights bleary in the night ocean
out one by one--

a city in tilt--

mast snapping 
mossy twig under foot 

we ran away like girls

highway healing
each other-- 

bought the house
with the stilts--

ate hot peaches in august--

& this body had life boats 
but we sold them for 
clip-on earrings & black boots

this is the house we bought
that fell into the ocean--

knees buckling as 

i felt myself un-loving you--

each kiss a kind of apology--

a rejection of the possibility 
of submersion--

i shipwreck--

drop potted african violet 
from the windowsill--

mother with the jars of
basil & thyme--

a pocket watch assimilated into
the salt water--

slow down--

our arms gold & hushed
as the gears drink--

deeper past a german submarine 
that my grandfather will
try & obliterate

with bombs--

the soul of a whale rising
past-- carcass already 
a cathedral at the very very
bottom 

where the animals are 
moon-light & the sun is 
a fearful legend--

you're not coming with--

& when the scuba drivers
come looking they 
will find nothing of value--

wood & metal stomach 
blooming open--

they will bring flash lights--
find my legs broken backwards
from trying to run 
fast enough to walk 
on water--

i imagine maybe you 
read the newspaper

& hear about a shipwreck 
in the headlines--
imagining a treasure chest 
diamond & sapphire--

i buried that all in the front yard--
in your palms when 
you weren't looking--

you sometimes till wonder 
why you feel heavier
than before you met me--

what will you tell them
happen to your wife?

the one with so many dresses
still waiting in
your closet like hot air
balloons--

the one who baked lemon bars
on sundays & went to church 

but only for you--

she was trying to dig
the holy from inside of herself
but she only found gem stones--

that's me of course--
cutting my hair on the dock--

rib cage housing crustaceans--

eyes shut-- pretending to
be asleep--

i shipwreck

& the scientists say

i have several more years left 
before salt & ocean drift 

evaporate the hull--

before then will you visit--

will you tell me if you remember 
the smell of our attic?

the jars of basil & time--
the still pocket watch--
mouth open-- 

we have the souls of whales