like thoughts, it gets caught, tangled, unraveled...

hair        curling fingers      puppet strings
or waves furling & tugging at my legs
overwhelming      knotted     tied      taut ––
      plucked! 
I want you to smother me, mother me
brush my hair a hundred times
with beads weave tapestries & wool socks;
charms    glitter    &   gleam
spooling in my navel
pulling under skin
to unravel revelries

I draw the needle through playing cards & love letters
a stream of your confessions
when disguises reveal thoughts
          collected & unkempt
untangle me!        the minotaur wandering the labyrinth
where's the bull?       Johnny knows too well
we face ourselves in the dark hall;
find your way back with a bulbous orb
or don't – you are only ever where you are
strung up on the wall like an old bird

fish net on the dock caught me     took me under
with baubles     & bangles      & cold mackerel
sunk to terrible depths      impossible vastness
how can I measure this contour-ous volume?
careful, Curiosity! you might find the end
if you do      I'll slip another knot for you
for curtains drawing
      for feet dangling
              & seeds spilling

---

today, it seems

time moves steadily

whether or not we feel it

& rarely do; it seems to pool in corners

swell as a tide

then shrivel like sun-dried fruit

like water it retains the shape of whatever vessel contains it

but bulges at the rim