If your ma’s got an alias for each voice & all six have hungered for you so long you’ve had to change your name / if your son awakened last winter a dark carpenter un-hammering the knots from his veins / if your parents dug a four-foot hole in the yard to spill a child into it / if you yearn to uncover the glory of your sickness / to polish every inch of it / spit shine & marvel / if you’ve named your head a glistening chaos instead of drowning in bad animal light / if your bl__d gives your children & your children’s children a gift that seems to take & take & take & take & take & take & / if your flesh can’t resist the un-shut maw of an awful god / if you know by heart the pros & cons of slashing your throat versus slashing your thighs / if you fear your hands could become your body’s assassin / if all your meds put together equate to a carry-on / if you’re always willing to risk more than what you’ve been given / if you wake up feeling empty & struggle to allow this emptiness to be a comfort as you lie still within the soft forgotten witch of your body / if this makes you scream out holy shit what if maybe today I am fine / if you’ve ever searched for mercy in the sharpened hands of an I-told-you-so / if your name is the song of a dark water muse calling you down into its muddy tapestry / we are kin / familia / familia(r) / B-L-U-D / blud / fanged & one-voweled / the thick & heavy / simple / from out the mud we siren eternal / blud royals of lost skin & shadow / I un-bl__d you to blud you / blud the terror echoes of heredity / blud each bruised memory into weightlessness / blud beloved / blud hum / blud the ready ghosts of shame / blud possess your body back to holy / blud thrive / blud rush / blud god menagerie / blud wild / woke / horse / fang / laced / covet / slick / gut / wing / lit / blud full moon hustle & oath.