deep into the cavern of sleep
a call for water comes
just halfway to the starlight it comes
you recognize the voice
of course you turn back
scrape your knee on the rock
by the time you get there
he is already gone

you wonder when your stories began
to have a beginning
middle end as you climb back
through slick water rock
and reconsider the whispers
stalagtite and stalagmite
because these words are no secret
they will not help you prove anything

silicon and calcium hold hands
and you call to them
because their names
sound like names
Silicon!
Calcium!
you ignore the remainder of their union
the oxides and carbonates
that turn fantasy back into science

and tonight science snores on
you can hear his rattle like a snake
that winds through your days
a greased railling
that gives the illusion of promise
but you know by now
not to bother reaching over
for slippery-scale guidance
the muscle pulses like a wave of peristalsis
but there is no meal
only memory

his teeth have dulled
you bring straws and soft foods
tonight's beasts are caged or
sleeping upon yesterday's cloth
it is safe now to rise
and go



�2006 by Jennifer VanBuren
published Summer �06, from east to west