17 uses for a parasol

1.
when you want to feel like a girl again 
2.
when you need a roof that's less heavy.
when the ceiling is a skull & you
want a wall of gills. never
push water through. collect the shingles
from the backyard in a plastic bucket
just to watch them turn into teeth.
don't put them under a pillow.
3.
for when you need to be older.
for rolling your shoulders back.
for knowing the taste of red wine 
& driving back that night on your own
4.
at night, when there isn't a sign
of the sun anymore.
when you don't want the moon
to be following you. when you're 
too big for a stone-mother &
a seat belt.
5.
so fuck the ocean
6.
a lid to the jar of apricot jam
7.
for a bed alone.
where his body is just a collection
of brick-filled pillows
8.
when there is bruises & when 
the bruises crust over-- sugary 
& caramel. when he tells you
that you taste like raisins.
9.
when you walk by the creek 
& the mulberries turn to
mush on the pavement
10.
when you have siblings.
all of them acorns. a ceramic
bowl by the door. collect them.
11.
for shade when there's no
fig trees.
12.
as a vessel to carry your 
broken acrylic nails. 
drop them off the dock.
13.
collecting
barnacles & sea glass--
tearing in the process
14.
a place to keep your bones,
to work them into spokes--
long & thin-- the flesh 
stretched between. 
15.
for treating the tears in
your skin like mouths. for walking 
through them & eating the sun with 
the big spoon-- a hot &
furious pudding. for gills. 
16.
for taking his tongue the
last time he kisses you. 
for putting it under your pillow.
1.
for when you need to be a girl again
1.
for when you open the pocket knife
17.
for keeping the sun off your
face when it's july & your body 
is a half of a fig. hold the
acorns just long enough 
to feel a pulse. & when you
open your parasol you will not
be safe from anything. 
isn't that beautiful?