"death"

COHORT 1

diving for light

diving for light

i cut the head first.

then twist the knife

sideways & skin the fin.

a filet of trout

bent over my fingers

like a ray of light.

the night cast

over me the way 

a looming fisherman sharpens 

his hook

into gleaming:

into the silver shine

of scales & starlight.

here is a room

where the living

quiet the living into light

—the shadow drops

into water with no return.

which is all

to say: i don’t

know life  

without cutting;

the sun cleaves

the world in two,

& we call it horizon—

two hemispheres stitched

together by a fishing 

line of light. like fish

we brave the sea

in our stomachs:

we close

to open again.

we wish to return

to water, we wish