I am urvogel trapped in geologic time
with rock salt as my only pleasure
leaving hints of how I was
In every image in every word I say
Build me from grey Yemeni clay
Roll me toward wind blown stones
Feed my mother chalk in lieu of milk
So I come out all bones and all bones
Spoon me mud in your romantic vision
Of a green past of deadly pastures
While I have dreams of the sea squirt tunic
of your mouth rounded, pulling me towards
The faucet pouring out bright strings of code
Of how to build you entirely from scratch
I’ve just now awoken to find myself alone
A lifetime of striking one match
Classifying is a difficult job
I want you to use the word love
Please give me a peat pulp pillow to chew
When it’s clear that there is no more of you
Jayinee Basu is the author of the forthcoming book of poems ASURAS (Civil Coping Mechanisms, 2015). Her work has been published in The Times of India, Everyday Genius, Metazen, theNewerYork, Method Quarterly, and various anthologies. She lives in San Francisco and is helping to research altered personality and social behavior in neurodegenerative disorders at UCSF.