playground

i feel you in my jungle gyms--

ache of metal marrow--

gripping to the rungs of my ribs--
the monkey bars 
& the skeleton slide

the staircases to kiss under--

breath of mulch & dew--

you the boy with the tree root legs
& me with the sandbox grit
between my fingers--

tic-tac-toe on across my chest--

when i was little my arms weren't strong enough 
for me to swing from bar to bar so my father would
hoist me up--

holding my waist while i grasped 
at femurs-- 

whose bones were those?

did you father hold you up--
waiting for your back to burst open
with swam feathered wing--

my body is only a sidewalk 
away-- 

two blocks & turn left 

they tore down

the anatomy i grew up in
& now only the trees remember
what those clavicles were like 

we all wanted to hang upside down--

the big-kid trick--

hair turning waterfall--

blood beating in temples--

we succeeded in spinning the earth

& in first grade 
when we mulch-searched for 
pterodactyl fossils 

someone of us gazing up
at the big kids--

our siblings

precarious & pendulous--

the threat of their plummet
made us pray--

pleading for their safe 
return to earth 

& for our arms to someday
be strong enough
for us to alter gravity--

i stood-- trying to pull
myself up alone & wishing
my father was there to lift
me by my waist--

we buried the carcasses 
of worms

hid stones with 
too much magic to keep 
in pockets--

now i feel them throb--

their enchantment lodged  
under skin--

the children playing vertebrae 
like black piano keys--

minor scale--

taking off their knees in me--

we wanted the slide to 
open up somewhere new--

a destination--

so we climbed up &
laid on our backs as we
slide-- 

liquefy the clouds &
make-blue the ceiling--

as if we could emerge 
on the surface of mars--

red dirt & dinosaur ghosts--

is that you then?

who walked three blocks 

broke sidewalks like bread 
& popped the heads off
dandelions along the way

& found me with my 

rust & sore flesh--

meet me under the slide
where i buried my mouth--

each tooth now fossilized
& prehistoric