Meaning: of the glands. From the Greek karkinos—

meaning “crab growth.” At certain stages it resembles

a cauliflower. Not everything makes sense. Two bodies,

while sparring, create a set of interlocking fingers,

a spongy mass riddled with lesions. A desert of devastation.

There’s something hidden in the hieroglyphs

of stranded bodies. They glint and stiffen

in the sun, a legion of bony-mouthed fish.

It’s itchy she says. This body pinches. I am a lost dot.

I would scale these heights for you, but I fear the depths.

Every day one trillion tons of water evaporate

from the world’s oceans. To evaporate: to turn

to vapor. To disappear. You can close your mouth,

but somewhere else, another will open.

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright © Mia Ayumi Malhotra

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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