Grief

You feel me

I slide down your spine

Playing on ribs like xylophone keys

Minor thirds you feel me

But you play deaf and pretend

You’ve just tangled up your insides

By accident

Mistakes can explain anything

You pretend

You do not clench your heart and jaw

Whenever you see that face

The face that makes your feet

Feel like defrosting steaks

Cold and clammy with condensation

Not tears

Oh no

But you feel me

Because all that’s on tv

Is slippers and socks and blankets and socks

On tv you watch twice removed

Through darkened store windows

You feel me

When it seems impossible that anyone

Could do anything as mundane as sleep”

At night

Because you’re twice removed from life

Right now

Staring through double pains

And all you can feel are my mallets

Shuddering up and down your spine