Sand

lays
flat
no affect
slips through

sea floor & slope
undermines
the crush of silt

the Mississippi Delta & floodplain
pour feldspar      quartz
into dunes      grains clump wet
hold weight you can not imagine

shield your cave
scarab beetle
digger wasp
digger wasp
scarab beetle
shield our cave

imagine
a sudden weight
every aching grain
holds as it clumps    persists
as dunes shift      waves spindrift from Delta to floodplain

oh Mississippi doldrums
          we lay for whole days
          beached by heat      feldspar-fire
lips    lobes touching
          sea floor & hope
          lowing tender
          speaking each other’s
          words as our own

& there are days
when the silt tastes bitter with rind
when crushed salt bites

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