Alone in the shower
I wash the foam
of you
dried ocean foam
from my hips.
This water
cannot clean like the ocean
cannot strip me bare like the ocean.

Yesterday with you–
I was the flower
in a clam, I chased a crab
acknowledging the
pierce.
The monster cold
embraced me with numb.
If I asked for more of you
you’d reach for my feet
drag me close.
A stab in my heart
The master acupuncturist
the ice needle entering follicle
sliding into follicle
accessing follicle.
Yes. This swim.
“It reminds me that discomfort
differs from pain.”
She tells us,
standing with the sun on her hair
your breath in her clothes.
My eyes leave her face–
away from angel smile and
down to sand.
Once again
the soles of my feet are yours.

I’ll be swallowed whole.