polka-dot couch 

we got swallowed whole. 
it was only a matter of time before
the lump couch decided it was
hungry enough to take us.
inside, everything was warped.
no matter how hard we tried
we could only ask questions. our bodies,
spiraled like dead centipedes. 
i used to everything with my sibling.
eat dandelion heads. jump on the couch. 
break the walls. call the firetrucks.
harvest the window bees. 
in the couch everything was easier.
no more older sibling & younger sibling.
just the opposite of polka-dots 
(swiss cheese) & laser trip wires
to try & evade. we worried about
our parents coming home
to find nothing but the old couch 
a skew on the living room floor.
we debated whether or not to leave.
"what if it is easier to be a seed?" 
"how will we find enough sugar?"
i do not remember so i will take the blame.
i left first. crawled out from between
the smashed cushions. the couch was worn
from us jumping & climbing 
& laying to look at the dusty ceiling.
the couch tended us all day, especially
in late summer when the heat stole our eyes. 
did i reach inside to grab them or did
they come out on their own? 
we never managed to get swallowed again
though sometimes on a bad day 
when rain was like wild sweat we would
consider it. my sibling said,
"i do not like who i am in there"
or maybe it was me. maybe i am the one
who said that. when you are small
you can easily sleep inside one another.
all i know is that the couch is gone now
& that it misses us. maybe it is sleeping
in a dump full of gulls & crows. 
maybe sometimes it sucks on our questions
like throat lozenges. do they bring
the couch relief or is it just left longing? 
i could find it if i needed to. i would
wake my brother up in the middle
of the night like i used to. i would walk
with our eyes closed, hands outstretched 
until we found the mouth again.