playground i feel you in my jungle gyms-- ache of metal marrow-- gripping to the rungs of my ribs-- the monkey bars & the skeleton slide the staircases to kiss under-- breath of mulch & dew-- you the boy with the tree root legs & me with the sandbox grit between my fingers-- tic-tac-toe on across my chest-- when i was little my arms weren't strong enough for me to swing from bar to bar so my father would hoist me up-- holding my waist while i grasped at femurs-- whose bones were those? did you father hold you up-- waiting for your back to burst open with swam feathered wing-- my body is only a sidewalk away-- two blocks & turn left they tore down the anatomy i grew up in & now only the trees remember what those clavicles were like we all wanted to hang upside down-- the big-kid trick-- hair turning waterfall-- blood beating in temples-- we succeeded in spinning the earth & in first grade when we mulch-searched for pterodactyl fossils someone of us gazing up at the big kids-- our siblings precarious & pendulous-- the threat of their plummet made us pray-- pleading for their safe return to earth & for our arms to someday be strong enough for us to alter gravity-- i stood-- trying to pull myself up alone & wishing my father was there to lift me by my waist-- we buried the carcasses of worms hid stones with too much magic to keep in pockets-- now i feel them throb-- their enchantment lodged under skin-- the children playing vertebrae like black piano keys-- minor scale-- taking off their knees in me-- we wanted the slide to open up somewhere new-- a destination-- so we climbed up & laid on our backs as we slide-- liquefy the clouds & make-blue the ceiling-- as if we could emerge on the surface of mars-- red dirt & dinosaur ghosts-- is that you then? who walked three blocks broke sidewalks like bread & popped the heads off dandelions along the way & found me with my rust & sore flesh-- meet me under the slide where i buried my mouth-- each tooth now fossilized & prehistoric
