Calcium
You are lost.
The days churn my ankles,
milking me out,
from underneath
my table of disbelief.
I press into its legs,
fracturing them at their joints,
my plump tendons
pulverizing
between the days’ thumbs
and
my bones.
*
You are lost.
Foam gushing
through the ceiling.
The bedside fan choking, on
Snot and salt.
*
You are lost.
Hot rods flaring in my sternum,
charging up my clavicle.
But at the dentist they insist
I am only 36.3 degrees.
And they cleaned her teeth too, they say
And Oh, her laugh! they say
And Yeah, she laughed a lot, I say
And Oh yes, I can imagine! they say.
And my embers surge,
And the hygienist whispers to reception
“The thermostat?”
*
You are lost.
All my hair, pulled up
Up and up and up and up
Until my neck vertebrae click, and hatch
I am the turkey leg
that you steered away from you
Away from its crinkling, bubbly body
to show me it was done.
On Christmas Day.