TONSILLITIS
Like a man’s remains in the belly
of a whale, the throat cultures its own pain.
A cruelty—a secret love—that drinks
crushed glass from a glass. In dreams,
the body runs, twisting its ankles
in different places until the feet break off
and swell into barrel cacti from the sand.
A heartbeat cuts the torso apart,
fever that draws a birdbath from the groin.
To possess a head is to wear it inside-out
after the hair finishes licking the pillowcase.
On one wall, there’s a charcoal sketch
of Death digging up his mother.
On another, a mirror holds the moon
captive inside the room—deformed
and unborn—like a diaphanized turtle in a jar.
