The sun gave our shoulder blades ulu-shaped burns, and the sun gives nothing to our sort
I sleep now, and furiously
Clouds excreted shadows on the shoreline, and there were no clouds
His body a train ride away, and nearby
There are organs I have never used before, and they are pale from overuse
The sand had turned to pearls in our folds, and that kind of sand does not turn to pearls
Then the carbon in our dirts to unthinkable diamonds, and those were the wrong kinds of dirts
He occupied the wharf, and I occupied him, and I did not occupy the wharf
Come adhered to bellies like white wounds, and sloughed off like stormwater
I spoke first, and I have not yet spoken
He is moving away from the beach now, and he is absolutely still
We shared a heat, and had no heat to share
I am made of water, and he is made of water, and without effort we breathe
Ben Ladouceur, “Tractatus” from Otter. Copyright © 2015 by Ben Ladouceur. Reprinted by permission of Coach House Press.
Source: Otter (Coach House Press, 2015)