We could have talked. We could have mixed
our tears seed saliva sweat

We could have combined
book and flesh thought and guilt
Oho! how we might have dissolved ourselves
united as brothers
Yes. As brother and sister: incestuous twins
we could have tested
limit after limit
Shoulder to shoulder brothers ready to face fear at dawn
death that keeps growing and growing life yet to come

Yes. We could have macerated like the hide of wild game steeped in mordant
softened and tamed
by one another
Tears and blood. Flesh and brain. Water and salt
Oho! we could each have liquefied the other
the way hemp disintegrates in the river
the way a body dissolves in pure caustic soda

Yes. I could have caressed you. I could even have
sung you a lullaby
I could have been your refuge. I could have killed you. Yes you-
brother lover child. I could have strangled you
with my own hands. We could have led each other hand in hand
to death
(Death. Impervious refuge. Maternal uterus. Common final placenta)

We could have talked. In another life of ours:
the next