grief becomes you

that dress

you are peeling shrimp

something to do with your hands

peeling

the phone rings

you let them go

your hands

you become

that dress

people

what I want to tell you about is disease

the way it's living

the way we're living

what disease wants to tell you about is life

the life it's living

what we want to tell you together is a people story

a fucking story

a story about people fucking

there's a song in the body

a refrain

a call and response

a chorus

where we sing together off key

disease with its own idea

the body with another

the fucking bodies of people writing the bridge