I love
the urgent pressure
between spine and stern
that requires me
to fold you
into my body
bring you closer
smother and consume you
bury you along my ribs
and raise a monument
to your existence
in my belly.

Balancing on a pebble
leaving time and
digging fingernails deep
into decay
and reliving the sun
and the emergence of the salamander’s
imperative exploration.

The fluctuating
entanglement
captures me and
moves me
to reach
into my own body and
relieve myself
of the light and motion
you wove into these
cellular hides.