I
You look only to the clock now
the air holds us hostage
dragging limp words out from
our suffocating suffering mouths
Our heads are offered up to
chopping blocks and hang heavy
from above
dangling dead
our feet dance light in air
II
But
there
air
ripples occasionally outwards
from the rare touch that crosses plastic walls
around us
within us
And I realize who I touch is not
you
but your second skin
Who I remember now is not the
you
who is now
but
but
III
We slice grapefruits in half
like we cut up silence
between you and
I
I cut these tomatoes
like I cut my fingers
observing the rotten
inside
