there’s a sharp pain in my neocortex
at two in the morning,
an octopus slaps me in the face with one of its tentacles and tells me
“get it together”
i stand outside with you on my doorstep and i tell you about the octopus
you stand there
silence bounces left and right in your mouth and i ask if you like the way it feels
“it’s okay”
a sharp pain in my neocortex forces me to kiss you
my tongue scoops the silence from the inside of your cheek
i giggle
it ricochets off the roof of my mouth and you laugh
i spit it out
you ask, “tastes funny, right?”
i say, “you said it was okay”
you say, “i tell you a lot of things are okay”
i say, “right”
it snows a little bit and i go inside
you come inside
an octopus swims out from under the couch and slaps me in the face with one of its tentacles