SHAPESHIFTER

she uncurls the s from herself

lets it slip down to her ankles

she becomes he, becomes shapeshifter

becomes a mirrored ideal

grows an Adam's apple and a stern brow

a strong silence and a rigidness in the fists

he doesn't fear the moving night

instead,he spread himself across a mountainside

smokes a pipe with the spirits of kerouac and Hemingway

spits warm whiskey and tales of dark-eyed lovers

and when he laughs

he rolls an echo over the valleys

where she once built fortified walls

he plants seedlings in the soft earth

where she once hid her softness

he opens the door and lets the sun sweep in

he searches for the bridge

for the rib bone he once held beneath his heart

the one that was taken in his sleep

when god's breath still clung to his clay

when he's seen both sides of the mountain 

he climbs down

and wraps the s back around himself

long locks unfurl over her narrow shoulders

tinged with the scent of mountain wind and tabacco

she falls asleep mulling over the words

of kerouac and hemingway

the seedling grow to cradle the ruins of her walls.

and her softness sits boldly in the night of day.