don't resist the insects

curious with legs-- 

you were a terrain to be explored--

the mountains of your thighs--
thick & bristling with sweat--

their mouths sometimes the darkened
half of the moon--

an absent smile--

bodies be-jeweled in the glint
of a lazy sun--

the soil after
the last ponderous snow 
was soft enough
for me to plant myself--

i wanted the creek to stop
& i remembered you telling me
that you are tired

& that you want to take off
the next few years just to 
practice existing

i should have let them take me

the insects--

drone hovering-- 

emerging from beneath the rocks 
where i had planned to escape 
with myself--

how dare they steal
all the best hiding places--

how many stones will
you lift before you let them 
take you?

do you feel your skeleton 
rising to the surface of your skin?

i'm scared it will hurt--

exo-skeletal-- white white ribs 

another memory of
the crescent moon--

i sat by the creek & thought
about what life is like
as a lichen--

to have others not
take notice that you're a live--

to be mistaken for stone
& to cultivate your own
body as the great secret--

maybe the bugs legs
pass over you--

the beetle-- the necklace
of ants-- the ticks with 
their mouths tasting air--

all mistaking my ruffled 
lace-green body--

i touch one--

feel it laugh like a skirt--

i put it on--

lay silent while your blood
turns creek-water clear 

& flows beside me--

this is how close we will
get, lover--

a few feet from each other

avoiding the insects 
& their obsidian bodies--

the movement of stones
is unsettling--

what have you been resisting 
lately?

the seasons turn?

the sinking into the wet earth?

i wish i were brave
like you--

standing at the edge of 
water as the insects
see you-- gaping open--

eager to colonize--

if i were an insect i 
i would be bold
enough to walk up 
you back--

starting at the base--

hairs standing up--

caress of lace--

crescent moon 
bending our knees--

oh but you would know
it was me--