Squeeze your thighs/ together to stop the flow. Fail. Pepper / his sheets with blood against your good judgement.

shook from temporary asylums / of our beds by crack of leather belt / on back & a basket of screams— / dreamless night & home smelling / of dead herons dad wore on his hands

Buzzing mosquitoes circled his / left ear the summer of his birth. / His mother fanned him with her / wedding scarf. Tatreez threads / telling stories of fishermen who / pulled morning from their nets.

HEY, don’t drink the water, baby— / didn’t you see the news? / Pencil dust, chipped paint, shower steam, brushed teeth, / there are so many ways it's already in you.