sewing machine

tell me where you keep the mouth?
i need to make sure
no birds get out
of this salad bowl. i would
do it by hand but there are
gods for this now.
now we can feed our hand
through the chaos engine 
& get a pillow on the other side.
do you remember sitting
side by side & planning 
our evacuations? do you remember
the house burning like
a ceremony? i kissed you 
like eating the last fig
in the whole world. you promised
everything that could not
be promised. i stayed awake
for seven years 
trying to sew a wedding dress.
out always came a morgue.
i told you, "i am working
i am working." 
the last message i sent to you said,
"i can't believe we were
just standing in a mine field
& didn't know it." i took a walk
to the dead tavern
with my face wrapped in
scarves. the wind blew
& turned the cell phone
into a shot gun. you didn't say
anything in return. i went home
& could sew everything. 
baby bonnets & wedding gowns
& funeral suites. filled a whole closet
& then set it one fire.