when you look at me

it's like being underwater. when you open your eyes you are blurred blind and your ears are filled with salt moving through tunnels and canals.

the octopus who learned how to unlock the treasure. the bear and her honey. the whale and her song.

climbing the rope ladder into the canopy, swimming into the cave with the smallest opening, barely big enough for your collarbone wingspan. stretch long and sleek, eel, snake, wisp of smoke, trail left behind. trail left behind. bread crumbs. secret cottages hidden behind ivies in the dark forest. fatten up the children, pinch your cheeks for color, to seem alive. gnarled walking stick and animals under your covers.

make yourself small and quiet, little mouse under a leaf. inchworm catching her breath. it is night time, it is change of season, world on her axis. the tides are shifting and what was there yesterday is below the surface today and where there was nothing, the hope of something, now there is treasure. unearthed. tangled roots. time capsule. pop gun, matchbox car, kazoo, dried leaf from the season you found the thing you were looking for.

when you look at me.

soft hiss of a release, then we move on through traffic, down the path, over the hill, under the stairs. make yourself small and quiet, learn how to notice the things that need noticing.



(freewrite: when you look at me you see... 12 minutes)