integument

integument \ in-TEG-yuh-muhnt \ , noun;
A natural covering, as a skin, shell, or rind.


Secrets are made to do this
Though a snake without its scales
still appears a snake.

The people on the street
set up their tents and tables
call their dog Shit and stretch their muscles.

There will be more jello shots today
more beer, crisp duck bacon, fried
green farm eggs, and all of this is good.

The band that plays by the river lifts,
mystifies the dragonflies
who will understand even less why they spin,

like the girls in pink, ballerina dresses
fascinated by the upward curve of a small bridge
cannot stop from skipping over it

while the mothers watch from behind their cigarettes
and red Solo cups,
caressing their fingertips with their lips.

dewlap

dewlap [doo-lap, dyoo-], noun:
a pendulous fold of skin under the throat of a bovine animal.


Take it apart, slowly. Dew. Lap.
Sit against a tree in twilight and wait for it.
The crickets will deliver it,
a telegram
scratched between legs.
You will wake to the sound of cicadas
and think of frost
but your hands will sink into slick grass.
Think mud
and dig your finger into the spongy soil,
hope for a worm to show you how it is
possible to be both directions,
to risk tearing apart,
to repair. Though you may want to squeeze off
its head, don't do it. Know,
in order to properly suffer,
one must be alone in the wilderness.
Come apart slowly.