Eclosure: Imago Moulting (Entrapment: Parenthetical Enjambment)

I'm not so cold anymore,
but it's still not summer:
not warm enough to shed this chrysalis,
tear off dead skin,
flex newly hardened wings
and (face newly hardened predators)

I go to bed fully clothed
to keep off the chill,
to sleep with the hope
that thin strips of fabric
will hold me together
when I fall apart at night
and (I fall apart every night)

Every night I reach down
through layers of membrane
to the places you used to touch me
(I think you used to touch me)
where I can hide myself
in your warmth remembered
and (not quire regretted)

I pull at the strings
that make up my knots
knowing that one day
I'll pull the wrong one,
unravel entirely
(all loose ends and frayed edges).

~

I'm not so cold anymore,
but it's still not summer:
I sleep fully clothed,
and every night
for a few moments
my old wings are just fine:
there are no predators

(and you're still here.)

01/25/2010

Author's Note: Yes, I'm talking (among other things) about masturbation.

Posted on 01/25/2010
Copyright © 2025 Richard Paez