SHANNON LINTOTT

open the mouth for light
               after Carol Krause

close for darkness
close it tightly to keep yourself in
safely snapped shut, we begin

and down we go

into the roots and the foundations
of sticks and petals and liquid jaws

scooping up the morsels of mold and decay
and the eyes close over
and the hands grow claws
the clay becomes our flesh
and the muscles learn to push

there will be slime
but also silence
and release

as our ears bend and seal
and our bones become loose, liquid
and we shiver and reverberate in delight

each and every passing thing
reaches out with tendrils and hollows
such creatures, such creatures we become

and then suddenly a cave
and then finally rest
as the wings of the earth fold over us

and we say thank you, thank you
for letting us return