Breadcrumb #599
LINDSAY KILLIPS
i was born loose
like lilac laughs
hips, hair
shoulders, shadows
lungs, love
too much, stretch.
a boy’s hands plunge,
an ice-fisher, desperate
for flesh
lilacs coagulate in my throat
my right hip.
petals lump, coal,
match my shadow.
my voice
burrows, scared
play dead.
play dead. play dead.
until my flesh
is no longer wanted.
heavy hip,
store black mass silence
like severed, tangled roots
my soil
is ready to laugh
until those congealed lilacs blush
across my skin.
my soil
is ready, absolved, for aloe
baby’s breath, peace lily.