Acacia Lasita
The first time the astronaut came for me
I was hidden in the ribcage of a whale
I swore I would eat only the salt
Grazed from the tips of the waves
If he would only let me stay
But he returned
The second time
My palms were open
The white fragments fell
My hands could not contain every shard
of every bone
in my body
I tried to collect every piece
I knew I could keep them safe
If I could just find them
The last time the astronaut came
I let his huge hands envelop me
I could have cried out
But I was just so tired
(this poem appears in the 2013 Walrus, the literary journal of Mills College)
