1)Blood relationship

where we wash off wounds

where the used syringes swim

up-stream & become amphibian

 

i’m filling up the terrarium with

our blood—letting the filter kiss

veins with air bubbles

 

bursting—

disposable camera flash—

 

i bite because it hurts

to share such tight elevator shafts—

up to the fourth floor & through

the ceiling—where the monsters

make picture frames for themselves

 

the attic with the green carpet

& dolls still in their boxes

 

in this family photograph we

dissolve—empty green sofa &

red chair

 

i tac a map of the world to

the inside of my closet—pushpins

 

up the back of Appalachia

 

Moca, Canóvanas, &

the Tarra River

Loch Ness &

Point Pleasant &

Cape Verde

2) Sharing characteristics or origins

& we find that the monsters are somehow

everywhere

 

our origins recited by tongues

cut off & wriggling under stones

 

sharing red eyes

i sometimes strike matches

in the hopes you will all arrive

 

come find me & my cryptic maps

& my newspaper clippings &

 

take me to the origins where you

all go to be unknown

 

there are prayers that aren’t meant to

be received

just lifted

 

taking care to dispose

of each other’s bones