The Soft Body of Desire Creeps like a Bug Over You

There are layers and levels
that must exist for the burying of matter

The strata of quiet and storm lapping
reads like new information to me

Terrified of all that I don’t know
yet it’s been lumped inside me

since the moment I was conceived
Where to next? I carried the oversized atlas

back to the Geology Department library—
no one there wanted it. It was outdated and too big to shelve

But the landmasses are still there, the countries still named
How does an atlas become unusable?

The classic quest narrative
set me on a voyage, a dumb, blind voyage

Desire for the invisible equals trouble every time
Our travel plans to Europe were crooked. You

knew it. I knew it. And the dog too
She shook the bone like it was attached

like it still had blood and flesh. She took the bone
and buried it half-arsed into the earth

Conquering flesh is easy. Close your eyes
now think of Columbus.