i wear a candy bracelet

& i gnaw at each segment. 
the sky dresses in pink & is made of thin paper.
a tear forms right about the horizon 
but i ignore it because 
the hands on the clocks are insect antenae
& the lawn has turned to sandy sugar
so one other fracture doens't seem as threatening.
white elastic peering between jems,
the bracelet strains.
i have nothing to tell you 
about the flavor of a diamond. 
i have put so much metal in my mouth. 
when i was hungry i used to 
ball up aluminum foil & chew.
the bracelet crumbles 
chalky in my mouth. all diamonds 
eventually revert back 
to pale colorful sweetness. 
a boy bought me this bracelet 
& he was too tall for every single room
he walked into. his fingers were 
thin as toothpicks but his eyes were
full & glossy. he liked to lift me 
up into trees. he called me ornament &
stood back to stare a me as i glistenned.
if i eat the bracelets he won't find me again.
each day they grow back.
do you ever fear your teeth will fall out
from all the sugar? i brush my teeth 
with my fingers--clawing at each surface.
the world is an unclean place 
for anyone with a screen. in my bathtub,
i lay in sugar
& think of the choice between 
crumbling & dissolving. i would much rather
crumble. it's more distinct. 
i want to find my pieces in the dust.
to dissolve is to fade entirely.
the boy taps his long fingers against
the window to the bathroom. i tell him 
i am no one now, just an intricate origami. 
he sighes deeply & walks away.
just because he is easily fooled 
doesn't make me less scared of him.
i make a birthday cake with my heart 
& blow out all the candles several times
hoping a wish might come true.
i dream of water swallowing us all
& dissolving each grain sugar. 
sugar melting between my toes.
the paper sky wilting 
like a daffodil. sometimes bite my own wrist 
instead of the bracelet. it forms
a second little bracelet of tiny bite marks.
red ring. the bracelets eclipse each other.
i pull the blinds shut
& make up another excuse to the boy.
i tell him i am a rose bush.