My porcelain washes warm
soap suds float up
as I sigh into the water
My hair isn’t the right shade
It’s a dark chocolate auburn
not an ink black
the ends start to wave in the heat
I’m chewing my lower lip
Steady hands held the small of my neck
Warm pressure
I fold into it, all of me
I counted to ten with my eyes squeezed shut
And opened to find eyes greeting me
Stars from a distant planet
I took them, kept them in a jar
they exist on the ocean floor
I discovered them by accident
recovered them when excavating chests
I was a little girl who didn’t dream
dreams tipped at cliffs
veer off to no where
now that the words formed
I hold them close
and I cannot stop holding you
close
closer still
Layered Fragments, Becoming Whole 