Catherine Wheels

it’s all so much easier
when you’re alone
to take off your armor
& cast away shadows
& summon your storm clouds
& cry into your pillow
& filter your madness through

the green rolling sea stretching out
before you
it swallows you whole & it
smashes you up & it
turns you to salt
when you sink to the floor
& you

gaze out at the infinite
spiraling out from your eyes
a million billion versions of you
alone but never alone
electrified & doused in chemicals
matter to energy to matter
but no matter
infinitesimal & epic
a jewelled flower
a catherine wheel
a glass of spilled water

it’s all so much scarier
when you’re alone
but you’re never alone
in here