even beneath the grasp of your hand against my neck the pull of my hair against my scalp and the burning gasp that is wrenched from the confines of my throat i will build it bit by bit stick by stick pebble by pebble and bone by bone this city paradise stretched along the length of my back a river flowing between the blades of my shoulders white fog along the edge of my skin blue and purple flowers blooming deep within the spaces of my ribs while the red crunch of autumn dries clean and crusted between my lips
and in the end this is perfect regardless of your absence i am still building and growing and constructing and colonizing and reclaiming the land you took away from me
bit by bit i'll pave over the remainders of your presence