several sacrifices  

i'm killing the ocean for clear skin.
a spoonful of sand. 
swallowing grit & shell. a jagged moon
broken like a wafer 
over the surface. plastic beads
excavate my cheeks for debris.
little construction workers 
sleeping between scalp hairs.
their little yellow hats. their shovels.
how does the sediment begin?
take a layer, leave a layer.
yesterday my friends traded faces
through a portal. i played hopscotch
with a freckle. free of the scabs
on my elbows, i waded into 
the sink. all pipes lead 
to the deep. a trench whispers
water's first language. 
the mirror is a lie machine.
stared at myself on the other end.
when did i start looking 
like a handful of geology?
rub the red out. rinse chin. 
my eyelashes erode into song.
take a paint roller to my lips.
no more creasing at all.
a bed sheet where a wave
used to be. clear my schedule 
& my shoulders. who is sleeping
in the shade of my nose.
little men with their 
blue beaded necklaces. 
no one can find work anymore.
i won't tell them to leave.
prying a layer back 
i find that missing tooth 
& that collar bone. i'll need them
in case i want to barter 
with the mouth in the dead tree
or the gargling ocean 
just beneath the drain.