My brother and I wake to smashed lightbulbs and a bathtub full
of piss She says the world is covered
in spines One eye is brown the other she keeps closed
all the time we spend pulling batteries from her mouth
wiping away her unforgiveable language from the neighbors’ windows
she’s begging for her favorite lullaby again
the fucks rain down
from town to town
fuck you little lamb
fuck you little bird
fuck you
Her allergies are contagious we breathe in
static cough out mosquitoes
On her worst days even the air around her head draws back
with a shudder I ignore her He coddles her
We both fail to make a difference still her thumbs
pressing at the backs of our necks still the restless satellite of her gaze
What else to call her footsteps pacing the floor
above us but the sound of shame
We have memorized it perfectly Oh how we have
Her hands surprisingly small fit so inexorably into ours
like sunlight into a sleeping eyelid
like teeth clamping onto bone
I say he’s her favorite He says I’m hers