so she dances
mindless
of all the eyes
feet on the tip of a pin

and she doesn't mind if the serpent bites
surrounded by the stars
knit into the running sky

perhaps she knew it before I did
my mind coiling around
all the possible delights
belly scraping ground
imagining it flight

and where in the swirling potential
of everything
have I fixed my gaze
as if the motion stops
at the will of a single thought
so my perspective sticks
like the markers on a map
describing where
I've been
the wings of the caduceus
clipped
she dances on and on

so death has thirteen sons
and the daughters of the elements
dip and spin
the sons of death plot webs
uncertainly grasping at the validation
of single points of attention
hoping to populate the nothing
with memories strung like pearls
around the neck of the universe

now I wish the world was small like me
and I sit and twist laurel leaves into crowns
as I pray for a victory
their gold fades to winter brown
discarded
stasis like glass cases that display
the kitsch
of fading memories
as I sing I find I've forgotten
the melody

but on she dances upon
the serpents fang
the venom doesn't phase her or is woven into her routine
I sell my love to the dusty places
where once upon a time gardens have been

bring on the rains
the pieces of water that fall as if flying
bring on the winds
that utter truth as often as lying
bring on the sun that changes oceans to vapor
bring on the spin
of the earth that seems so stable
yet starts the whole dance again