Cheryl Snell
MAGNETIC GAIT
This spine has a hole filled with the names
of its dead. When it sits, they remind it
of its inheritance. When it stands
they wobble it and set it down again.
When it tries to move its feet forward
they stick them to the floor and trip them.
Better to lie here and count the cobwebs
on the ceiling than send you to the store
just to buy the wrong painkiller again.
But if you do go, turn off the lights
and lock the door while I carefully crawl
to the steepest edge of my mind.