stems

Stems.

But he won’t break her

She, On a string--

It’s tied tighter--remembering

Loose: the finger way up there

He, something like her name

It’s slurred and thick

Like, oh, syrup, holding down

The straining creatures caught in

Webbed fingers that touch—

Finger--

Her thin tooth-picky legs

That fold like little Bambi

In a forest

With tree roots and