it's strange how any arm is the length of

shoulder-to-shoulder when it holds you

when you want to be held / how a stifled laugh

& a breath-held tear come together to paint

everything a lush stroke blacker / the watermarks

on the salmon wall an iron claw / the cricket-ball

shattered glass a salvation prophecy / you cannot

drink from an ocean such as blood when your cupped

hands are vague fishing nets of some ancient mother

goddess / this burning atlas is the alchemy of the mind

shoulder-to-shoulder in its catalyzing grasps / the smiles

that docked when the dock was broken / the mouths that

called your name when you dreamt in name-tags of a

forgetful forgetting world / it's strange how any arm is

the length of / shattered glass / you cannot drink from

an ocean such as / this burning alchemy of the mind

~ Ajay
23/11/2019