so she whispered
"to soften"
and every bone and every drop of blood
every flake of skin and all the air in your lungs
came undone came spewing out
a cosmic *****
the tether of attachment
the tether of grasping
was no more
"to soften"
so says the body

Undoing and unbecoming
Give in and be let go
She rises through me
Carving her fine nails up my spine
Her fingers slither in my veins
A rush to my head
I choke I cough I shout I sing
She caresses my shoulders
and patiently works her way down my heart

a friend of a face
a veil of guilt
paragraphs wrack my bones
what's body and what's real

following the directions and movement
like carving through bedrock
making the valleys deeper
the canyons more hollow
more space to fill and take in
resounding echos that do not fade

sit in bed
lie awake
feel the pain

pain
the sound of gentle murmurs
ringing out
let go
   let go
      let go

I feel my body decompose
many thousand hands are releasing

It’s morning