salt lamps

your mother bought
pink himalayan salt
lamps for your house--

ones for every corner--
glowing soft & magenta 
in the dusk of august

she explained to us
that the salt was
for cleansing--

for attracting all
the toxins & purifying 
our bodies 

were we in need 
of decontamination?

did the lamps
strip us of our negative ions?

did i lose part of myself--
my own sweet infections--

alone in our
pajamas you touched the
surface & licked
your fingers

i did the same

bitter salt

we kissed each other
too much-- 
sodium mouthed--

what was it that
made out skin pink?

was it 
the light of your
mother's salt lamps?

trace hints of magnesium, 
potassium, and zinc 
in our bones--

your shoulders
becoming mountains in
the haunting blush of light--

we left the lamp 
on as we fell asleep because
i was still young enough
to be afraid of the dark--

& in the night the
salt lamp grew-- 

yearning home among
grander mountains 
than us--

stretching out shadows 
in the hope
of making us taller 
& full of snow--

aching to press into
the sky--

did the rocks want
to return?

did they remember 
what it was like
to be massive & 
immovable?

& then there we were
children with pollution
in our hair from
the fire pit in the yard--

i woke up to see 
you growing-- becoming
jagged & pinnacle--

your skin became a fear of mine--

your lips cracked like 
the earth's crust--

i would wake up
to watch watch you
change as you slept

to watch myself 
fail to produce summits

i remember the
last time i kissed you
& it meant something

you were asleep &
the salt lamps 
were making us clean--

can we be pure again?

on the horizon as
the sun went down
i noticed the man 
who harvests them-- 

course hands digging into
himalayan throats--
blood pink on  underneath
his finger nails 
as he works

does he feel like a killer?

does he work for
some greater moral good--
the project of holier 
young skin--

the air we breathe
became magenta & gold--

the stars themselves
wanted in live in your
bed with us--

there was
no amount of pink mountains
that could unburden me

i watched your shadows 

kissed your forehead
& your eyes flickered  

you tasted like salt