the longer shadow

turn back slender hands that may shatter between the smooth pads of your fingers 

turn them back to the beginning 

I slip out of skin as spirits slip from sleeping bodies, soundlessly painlessly 

timelessly, there is no time 

for you and I

I slip out of sleep as lithe legs slide from stockings after mass

have you kissed the knuckle yet

have you kneeled at the foot of your bed

aching for the past 

I found a ouroboros twisted into a double helix 

hung from a branch and buried 

behind cascades of Spanish moss 

I unhooked its jaw 

pulled the tail from between its fangs  

and when it finally had room to speak it whispered 

careful where you're standing, girl

once this was a seafloor

all your mountains underwater

you'll find their fossils in the caves 

keep your footing, keep your mind 

you never know when either 

will falter without you noticing 

once I was a serpent, grand enough

to swallow you whole

now I am less than the length of your arm 

see how decompression makes pitiable monsters 

of us all

I returned the snake to its rightful place 

hidden in long blades of grass

knowing it will only revert back to its previous state

after enough time has passed 

I turn back slender hands to the beginning and break them 

there's no use counting 

all this searching only to undo what time has done 

only to take back what it has stolen from us 

there's no time for you and I, no time at all 

I'll show you how to step forward with such perfection 

that it moves you back, traversing the fourth is an unconscious act 

I was near darkness when I heard you speak of redemption 

I was watching when they taught you how to become closer to light 

I must warn you, dear

it is only fair 

the further you go

the longer your shadow 

careful now, this was all ocean once

keep your footing 

lest you sink