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