Poem: “Sandgirl”

Dwelling among dunes,

The sediment sifts through your fingers, and you dig

for purpose.

Lightning

strikes,

and she melts warmly

into your arms,

from granules to glass.

Gaze into

and through her;

her skin is still electrified, and yet,

despite the sting, hers

are the softest lips you’ve ever kissed, you want

to shatter her,

and swallow the shards,

and bleed,

and be free, it’s

the first time you’ve ever felt it this way,

and God, oh thank God—

Oh, but was it Heaven who brought down the mountains

and stirred the sky,

to burn the sand,

to create her?

Or was it, buried

deep inside your know-no-better heart

just another machination

of Hell?