the body as the cross, carried by the body itself to some other golgotha. the body as golgotha. the body as the grave of another body, the body as cradle. the body as grace, as thin as february sunlight, the body itself as thin as the light, the light that illuminates the body.

the body as an act of charity. the body as a scapegoat, scapegrace, scraped inside and out; the body pulped into dark juice. taste and see that the body is good.

the body howled out into song by a mangy dog somewhere out back by the bins where the cook smokes a cigarette on a break between rushes. the body as a rush, the body hushed, moving silently with purpose always into some other room. the body as sung by a choir into notes as bright as sheared metal, the body as the manna that came from heaven that one time, remember the hunger, the body as enough.

this is my body: to the side, just out of frame, a man mutters, whatever that means, whatever that means. the body as a harbour, but to sail from and not to. the body as harbour. the body as the rocks in the shallows, the wrecking kind. the body as the rocks, the rocks — the body as the rocks.