Allison Eir Jenks

Spread me over the world first
Take my fingers and fold them around
heads that need direction.

Take my lips to the hands of anyone
who has never been loved.

Turn my voice into strains of heat 
and bend my crooked toes straight

Forget I was wrong when I was
and if I lied let it teach you something.

Push my eyes into the dusk of the times.
Match me up with a hand-shaped clock.

If you hear a strange sound in the closet
let the darkness of it be me.

Trap my pains in a way
that shivers you
when you forget how to dance.

My breath stings with your body.
These terrible bruises in my mind
keep me from caving in at your chest. 

Beneath it are all those vessels;
eagerness to trip alone.

Women are moving your
furniture around and planting
you vegetables. Make them leave.

It doesn’t matter if you’re
uncomfortable. People understand.

All that has changed now;
You sleep without pillows
and you’re sick to the neck.
It’s good though, there’s 
something whole about it.

You’ve always worn 
everyone else’s clothes
and never slept naked
though it was on your mind.

Look what you have.
Tell me what you think,
not what you’ve read.

Tell me what is in you,
not what’s in them.

Write it to me.
Breath it in me
like I exhale your smell
straight from inside.