like most of us 
you remember the exact moment
of your birth

the river cauldron
disaster-ing environment

we vowed to never make
a great war again & 
left the chemicals 
to remind us-- seeping
into swamp & soil

life run wild

cement igloos
clutch dearly to un-used
ammunition

at night when illuminated
by car headlight
they resemble crypts

they are your mothers of course

fathers are the ones who use
gun powders but women
of course know to hold onto it
swallow it until it becomes a child 

& i used to tell my brother
on brisk autumn ombra dusks
that the planet we were born on 
was close to the north star

i'd point up

i really meant we came out
of the stagnant water like you  

the water you don't drink 
from your cupped hands

that's what fathers say

& from there you stood up

fanned your black wings
like the monarchs we watched
hatching from chrysalises 
in first grade

the teacher pointed
& said 
they have to dry then
before they can fly

pollution ovaries
menstruating between 
blue gills & large mouth bass

they declared your
mother an EPA priority 
for hazardous waste

sitting in the reeds
you discovered your fingers
capable of rippling out
handfuls of grass

did you ask your mother
what she would name you?

only to see her stalwart faces

she didn't want to smile
for fear she would ignite

one spark could do it

bring the world war 
into her esophagus

fire & shrapnel

you're everything your
father wasn't

that's all she tells us, yes?

you lay down & let
the night bugs gossip 
about your size

you see your heart beat
in the grey tired souls
of moths

like me

you name yourself

there is no birth certificate

no doctor

an umbilical chord 
tethering you only to 
the moon

you don't cut it

let it drag us
into the bushes when
the sun comes out

what kind of body is this
meant to be?

see your eyes burning
red: your reflection
in the water

i reach for the tail lights
of planes at night

claiming the mechanics of stars

wash your face

collect fish hooks

save them underneath 
the flat slate stone

dry yourself 

i was born with wet brown hair

& it hasn't dried since