Particular Words in a Specific Order

beach: 
                 color! we are corona commercial 
                 without service, tower down, tower down, tower down 
                 and shh 
                 only the glass sound that is not shattering shares 
                 my curse and what isn’t us 
                 your lips are all ghosts about the dirt 
                 with feet in sand I cannot spy past that edge 
                 last limes lay soaked in sweat, bottled 
                 last lime tree is absent for boat and chairs 
                 but I kept that, too, bottled for you 
outer edge: 
                 tower down, wept 
                 orphaned nations shred themselves 
                 and the paper that titled them 
                 it is otherworldly immigration 
                 efficacy is what remains from the past 
                 boxed ears swell up from your nibbling 
                 they are deaf to them, and that is 
                 how you bottle for me 
crest: 
                 we argue over who is Noah 
                 decide that I am a Bengal fox 
                 and you are both the oncilla 
you or I ask: 
                 why has the ocean turned maroon? 
                 where has the land gone? 
                 do you want another drink? 
or we save our words and enjoy the silence, 
make our own silence, shh 
hear the wet wood bend about us 
salt collecting in the new body 
like a curse in scar tissue, alms 
your lips are all ghosts encircling us 
I bite into my pocketed lime so 
that my face contorts as we  
solidify in    color!

2019