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.