Only Everything Below Poem by Lora Cooley

There is a rhythm in the scraping of your tongue along your teeth
Comes across as hell inside of heaven in a feast
Where you ripped two different holes
They won't cauterize as cleanly as you think
If you listen to me speaking
'Don't believe your ears, trust your mouth.'
I had a mind to leave you
Out in the rain
But you're too weak
And too tired
Child
Lay down

It is beating
Strong
Thundering onward
It's palm up
It's voice up
It speaks
With the speed in the clench of a bear-trap says
'Love was as passive as flowers.'
Planted a garden of lies in her chest
Pointing to the west
Where love was sent
To shake and be shaken
The flowers open
And the birds they sing
She heaves blood
There isn't ever any shelter anymore