gulping 

more than i can manage.
ears as acoyte bells. i ring
tuesday's doorbell & wait for the sun.
arriving is a series of stoops.
concrete hardens into the cast
of a poet's face. my uncle plays pacman 
in the corner of a dead pizzaria.
he is full of quarters. 
i peel back my skin
to find a swarm of beetles. shiny back.
all gems are just insects 
with their legs pluck off 
by miners. a shaft is waiting
in the basement. 
i take a fork & a spoon
& wittle away at the earth.
dirt tastes like autumn. the seasons 
have given up on me. it is just
summer summer summer. a tulip
where the light bulb should be. 
the sound of losing the video game.
my uncle with his huge coarse hands
& a joystick toggling. i have 
seven knees & five eyes. 
a blinking aches 
in my joints. who is going to change
the last light bulb? who is going
to unhinge sigh from his teeth.
i want a new finger to press
to the roof if the animal's mouth.
my vocabulary isn't strong enough
to tell you how the basement hurts.
remove the tooth & burry it.
we need more trees. how long will it take
for the seed to sprout. red leaves.
vein stem. the earth's core
is full of blood; hot & stewing.
somewhere the tea leaves are read 
& suggest death. a tarot card is pulled
that means no one 
is going to sleep tonight.
i try to swallow a pencil but it gets stuck
& not a ghost writes poems 
in my throat. who will become 
a planet? who will unknot the necks 
of trees from one another? 
a bird is taking up oil paints.
i am the bird & there is no canvas
just a blank wall in my house 
that has been staring at me.
i need to cover it's sixteen eyes.
maybe we were all angels 
& then we were banished. i once
touched a boy's back & felt 
where his wings used to be.
i once swallowed a boy & the next day
spat a tangle of ivy out 
into the backyard. it is still
working its way up the mountain.
the planets roll down hill
& nestle with each other.
i turn a light out & cradle
my extra three eyes in the dark
before placing each in my mouth
one by one.