memories molded into a device to carry the dead or offer the illusion that something like that is capable of being carried forever
I didn’t give much thought to how
petals turned to teeth
and roots became bodies writhing with brilliant hunger
and we resented the shade
provided by the things in our garden
almost nothing inhabited my mind anymore
except exploding shapes
shared by fingers
I no longer recognized
or the prospect of gnawing
at a barb long enough
that my teeth would finally shatter
and how sucking on the metal ball
moist with yesterday’s water
would become painless once more