I have seen a child walking
after the swiping at a photo album
proved fruitless

[ mango lingering low-teeth-y ]

hops. skips. jumps. stops

to remove pebbles, wants the earth out
of her shoes, fingers
oily after jackfruit, oil in pickle
she in the jar

&

the shoes are stone, heavier
all of a sudden, dusts it off
with a rhythmic taptaptap

First gray hair last black one

[ shivering ]

feet dragging / plowing the earth
to recede in, to reseed in.

is it the want
or the
|
gravity &
tongues discovering islands of mango atoms
[ untasted / gravity ]

~Ajay
12/8/2019