finally, when the words fell from
her matted chapped lips
they were all wrong - upside down
and sickle-celled.
her crimson lips shriveled
into the maroon of severity. 

you have been at sea long 
enough to see it everywhere.
you can drown in sand and swim in mud
but a help will not decor your gasps. 

she clenched her diaphragm like a fist
fishing for a wall
and learnt to breathe through her skin. 
her bones were boiling lobsters,
her lips re-swollen raisins, and
her pumped up wrinkled face
had more rage than rouge. 

let's leave, love, you say
always be leaving.
there is no place for those
who crave a place. 

come, let's look at those lips again
and the childish secrets
behind. 
let's unhook that tongue
to lash and whip and
sting- aling - aling.