surgery

throbbing veins & aorta trunk:

these shadows need encasement.

a body to ripple into.

to soil.

love is nightmare

for hastenburaphobes.

me:

sunday’s best.

fretting the step off concrete

to save this glistening organ.

to swallow it whole.

to soil ​everything w/ fleshy mud?

i cannot.

i cannot,

like the movies,

toss this vessel

& everything it wears

to nature.

i cannot

be devoured by worms.

exchange

a heart of

stone

with

sod.

i cannot.

even holding your hand.

i will stay

clean & lonely

& watch the slide

from the sidewalk.

sorry, love.