Lifeguard

you

brought the

   blood

and home-

        made salt

it stung

when you

       pricked          me

with that

dirty

needle

I gargled

    salt water           for days

while you

      watched

dehydrated, I

      waited

for the

water

    from your

veins

shriveled up

                 on my

bedroom carpet

    salty

    water

    pour

     ing

from my eyes

 you        watched,

        you waited

current
takes my

                                flimsy

                    body

pulls it
with your tongue

                  lifeless

like the

     shell     of a       crab

              who sheds

exoskeletons

from

time

      to

 time

Trapped

I am here
in wind
I am gone
among leaves
and dirt,
I am buried
I am earth.

I search,
I dig
with dull shovels
for my curly
brown hair,
swallowed
by the mud
of rainy days.

I dig
and hit bone,
hit flesh,
hit earth,
but never find
arms
to pull.