Migration

This was her joke:
The way she twisted her hands
Backwards against her thighs
Smiling at the tendons
The created hollow spots
–How she loved those dark pools
—-Floating on her skin

She knew this was something
No lover would see
That love didn’t stand still
Long enough to be savored
Like this
Slow and perfect
In dusk light

Overhead
From the darkness geese called out
Moving South
Her fingers
Stripped of day
Traced their route down onto her stomach
Patterns tattooed into the heart

This was her joke:
How she wanted to diminish
Her bones
Leave her body like a wind-worn shack
With ghosts snapping inside
How she would follow another’s path
Until she came upon herself again
A stranger. Full of fire and dust.

A stranger. Full of fire and dust.
Until she came upon herself again
How she would follow another’s path
With ghosts snapping inside
Leave her body like a wind-worn shack
Her bones
How she wanted to diminish:
This was her joke.

Patterns tattooed into her heart
Traced their route down onto her stomach
Stripped of day
Her fingers
Moving South
From the darkness geese called out
Overhead