the child in the bathtub

i follow the moon all night

staring out the bedroom window until it passes down below the horizon

and then i follow it there too

somewhere far up in the dark above me i feel your hands on my body

but not down here

.

i see myself curled up at the bottom of a deep well,

the violence or what’s left of it.

.

you wanna hold me?

i feel myself decay underneath your touch. my muscles tie themselves in knots, then give out all at once.

my flesh offers your fingers little resistance

they rest on my ribs

i try not to move

.

i hear you the way the earth hears itself shake.

you look at me like i’m cut open

like my guts are spilling all over the floor.


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