from his planter box
onions, white blooms: dreamlike as
his planter box onions
* * *
dogs yell across the
pool: papayas swell, firming
above hot chlorine
* * *
shaking the mayfly
shaking on my curtain – the
afternoon’s useless
* * *
my old jar of dirt
would be such a lovely place
for an onion
* * *
descending for snacks
at midnight I keep forgetting
to feed my springtails
* * *
two chickens fuck in
my neighbour’s yard they fuck I
shake on the toilet
* * *
smarting on all fours
behind slats and my sisters
I lope up my stairs
* * *
the onions’ shoulders
rub in our kitchen, it’s too
small, will they cry
* * *
the trees rustling out
growing mad between houses
don’t know where they are
* * *
soap’s clatter on pots
startles flights of quick sparrows:
our video call hangs
* * *
the water’s mirror
shines from below but does not
throw back my scream
* * *
my parents are not
home yet but the lizards plead
just find a cranny
* * *
staring through blankets –
the spider in my wall’s notch
caught no flies today
* * *
the evening key turns
in its lock – the small birds flocking
a window leave
* * *
mumbling through saying
grace, my family’s eyes all shut –
bats swoop by, clicking
* * *
cutting through onions –
shiny, silly onions, I’ve
no tears left for you
* * *
lightning fills a night
cloud – I could scratch until all
my skin came apart
* * *
bats over the pool,
wheeling and dipping – I drift,
cold, backlit, wrinkling