Pillars of Salt - Spring 2019

The Swim Here we stand Beneath storm clouds Fit to break Into ember-sized shards And wind Yanking out limbs From beneath Our sins Hanging off our backs like vines These sins They cover then stare at mine But sins That never seeped from my skin Yet bite my heels to shame my kick All the Earth knows of Hissing serpents Sent to kiss my achilles goodnight And nature still gifts mice to them while All gravity pulls me toward the tectonic discs Ever shifting, poised for the penultimate spark Of an aftershock They abandon ship When the storm clouds rupture and Spikes drizzle into my eyes like One speck is all it will take I watch my friends stroke through surf Like bonafide sea snakes Like gluttons savoring chocolate cake And they somehow twist to glare at me When waves steer them below the deck 12 Pillars of Salt