The whale jaw was a conundrum
after a while we couldn’t sleep
beyond the growth of kelp elm
those days we wore green, killed
time by the front windows, lungs
weren’t visible yet, the flesh still
connected to the body, grapefruit
eyes missing, nights you went with
your raw thigh wound bandaged
tight in the forehead from a lantern
of a headache, you bit your lips
and cursed the town for bringing
up the bridge yet down came dawn
the fisherman were free to pass by
the places where we promised each
other’s capacity, the ability to carry
oxygen in vials, this isn’t about blood
red cable knit sweaters, your tattoos
and the space between that damn tree
of veins and wings, the intersection
like a wishbone embedded in flesh
decaying on the shore like we didn’t
have things to do that Saturday, how
did the reality feel when shore met
too quickly with wet chest, like a slip
beneath the hem of my shirt, was it
a fluke when you said you loved me
the ocean is rushing out time.