skin like dusk on the collapsing horizon

can’t you see it can’t you          help

can’t you name it can’t you loosen

the secret from my adolescent hands

when the sun goes down

                                                                             men like locusts on the eastern horizon

                                                                             can’t you see it can’t you help

                                                                             can’t you stop them can’t you unswing

                                                                             my name from their dripping tongues

                                                                             when the sun goes down

body an overripe fruit in the viscous summer

can’t you see it can’t it                            stop

can’t you untouch it can’t you stow it back

into its perfect rind    wash it clean & send it home

before the sun goes down

i am seventeen & small for my age                 i have the rounded face & soft protrusions of a much
younger child         smile like i still have my milkteeth           my hair is heavy & uncut & men like
to wrap it about their fists          touch it to their lips           they shadow me home even in daylight
they [ask] how old i am         how long until i turn [eighteen]         they [befriend] me & call me an
[old soul]                    [wise]                    they call me after midnight              they take interest in my
poems           want to [mentor] me           want to visit me at school        want [             ]         & want
[              ]    & want          & want to [             ] me             they [forget] how old i am           they take
interest in my [                ]    & my [                ]        they call me [              ] & call me after [                ]
i am [              ] & young for my age             i am seventeen & [              ] for my age             they ask
how [           ] i am         can’t you see it           can’t you see it            my skin like sap & they swarm
can’t you see it                 can’t you help              my skin peeled like fruit & dusk chars the horizon
& i have to go home the sun goes down