My Body Dreams in Energy

Twisted alabaster hands
Branching out from
A well-rehearsed orchestra
Of lilac belly blooms.

At the center of a pit
Which has a hole in it
That can never be filled
Is that thing you cannot see.

I feel the inbreath sucking
My throat thrumming with
Stampede of hooves
Which is a hundred tiny deer.

Somewhere down the hall
My ears are ringing
The sound like thunder
On the other side of bathwater.

Eyelids flutter in strange
And strategic tempo
Parchment ripping apart
In a summer breeze.

And the emerald gems
Embedded in my tears
Spill with a spent clatter
Onto the rim of my cheek.

Behind the golden goblet
Suspended in midair
Is the silken crane of my
Neck lifting off in flight.

If I look into the muddy
Pools of your eyes
The drowning
Doesn't ever stop.

So my gaze is focused
On the flaming corona
At the edge of the eclipse
Of your sad shoulder.

And in between songs
I'm smelling the sweet scent
Of the meat grinding between
My soft-scrubbed toes.

Something's whispering to me
Trying to think of a rhyme
Which can be paired
With the jeweled serpent
Outside on the stairs.

In the sandstorm of my desire
The strands of our hair
Rise above our heads and tangle
Into a single shining braid.

With spirals and curls
The knotted wood of
My companion walking stick
Embeds itself ever further
Alongside my spine.

Bark peels off the edges
Of my weak and shaking knees
As the snowfall tricks my skin
Into mapping ancient landscapes.

You touch my lip with the
Edge of your fingernail
And even though I see it coming
I still fall down.

My form shatters fragments
For a moment before
It dissolves in a pile of water
On the chessboard tiles.

There is a moment of
Evaporation too quick to
Examine closely for the flaw
And then I am gone.

© 2001 Koko Jaeger