BARBA

I followed reptile footprints that lead away from my house across the backyard into the grass within the sand on the dunes under the light of the Moon my feet were not the feet I remembered.
I fumbled onto a beach that turned into an ocean that ebbed before my steps and fish rode the waves that were pacing away into the other end of that ocean and under my foot lay nothing but thousands upon thousands of abandoned faces that looked like mine angry and sad shocked and surprised with red slap marks upon their cheeks and tear groves under their eyes and bruises that had solidified in the shape of a fist and wounds burnt by the acid of spit.
Then I saw you rising in front of me without a smile and the ocean roared and stopped at your anger that became your hand and in the exact second that your hand tightened and swung towards me the ocean returned at us with all its might and crashed our togetherness as I dropped my face at you and turned around and got carried away by the waves to the shore having nothing in the place where my face had been.
I landed on the beach where I saw my feet were again the familiar feet and something was telling me you had gone and I hoped for good.
I fumbled back to the house along the grass on the sand dunes in the light of the Moon and lay down on the bed waiting for sleep to come and soothe the stinging at the front of my head where my face was missing like a tail dropped in a desperate moment.

TWENTY-SEVEN

SEAHORSES

THE BOY WHO RAN

LIZARD DREAMS

SOPHIE'S CHOICE

MURDER

SNAIL

LICKS

SMOKIE