picture a man and a woman and a tree and a lizard. a kumbayah circle of unlikely friends. note how they betray each other one by one, like an endless game of rock paper scissors. this is the song of childhood. ring around the rosie. pick a color and let it bleed across the page. but stay within the lines because geometry is law. a square is a square. a cross is a cross. dress your sunday best and don’t fall asleep, otherwise it’s a long dark and fiery time for you. as if the darkness is to be feared. as if the man and the woman and the tree and the lizard had not surged from the depths of darkness. as if their flesh were not tempered by circles of fire. geometry is law. this is the fruit of the fruit and the blood of the blood. i carry your despair in me. the holy reckoning claws at my chest like the first time i read genesis aloud. this is the beginning. this is persimmons and lemongrass, seagulls and doves. the flattest worlds and the roundest worlds. how do you question a line, just stay within. rock paper scissors. it’s a circle, darling. the earth erupts in lava flows to the ocean cools the soil builds the earth. pick a color and let it bleed across the page. do you feel it in your chest. the voice of the holiest creatures and all the angels and saints. surrender to our scripted armageddon. betrayal is betrayal. this is the womb of the womb. we all fall down.