April 19, 2021 — MaxxM Studio Cave

1 ct. cut Rubies mixed together with 1 ct. cut Sapphires,
in a large glass bowl between us.
Sitting at the Arts in Parts table
that is slick, black, bumpy-from-hot-glue-remains.
The sun dips between the clouds,
casting shadows on our hands,
as each takes a turn
Reaching into the pile of gemstones.
The soft tinkling of their facets against each other
as we pull our respective stones from the mix,
and drop them one by one
into our leather pouches on the table beside us.
One tear for each of my Rubies,
one for each of your Sapphires,
until all that remains is a crystal clear bowl
of our Water.
Standing on the edge of the pool of salt water,
we grasp hands
and slowly descend into the Truth of the Matter.
Floating, sinking, drinking, drowning, dying,
choking, gasping, rising,
The crushing weight of Rubies surrounds me now
and I know I am completely alone.
They begin to sink into my flesh and I scream gutturally
as they gouge into my pupils.
I am vomiting Sapphires,
Releasing the last of them back to you.
Rubies tumble downward
Raining into my opened skull
as somewhere out there,
you return mine, as well.
I am lost in space as my skin is roughly torn from my frame,
Rubies smashing into me
faster than the time it took
to Dawn On Us,
as if the cat clock has to move at triple speed
to catch us up
from the six year Pause.
Bloodied and raw,
I pick through the charred remains and try to form mud
with the ashes,