why do you think you’re here? / he asks / and you tell him / your body is folding / over itself like a piece of paper / stuck / in the crack of a wall / stuffed perhaps / in the crack of a dam / to block the tears that have not yet come / you think your body is attacking you? / no / your body is speaking / to you and you don’t know / the language / you feel like someone else / has taken residence inside you / you would say you feel pregnant / but you know better / your body is not your own? / yes / you think he is hearing you now / and you lean closer / that he might better hear the body’s whispering / betrayals / do you exercise? / yes / but your body isn’t telling you to run / it’s asking you to listen / here / you reach / to bring his hand to your stomach / there is a desert inside you / feeding off the salt in itself to make more / sand / his hands stay folded / in his lap / the brain-gut connection / he begins / which means / it is all in your head / a prophet poet is never believed / in his hometown / there is a mother / of thousands inside you / you will need to learn to heal / yourself / to take the green / and fertile breath / blooming across your mouth / back into your lungs / you will need to learn / to kick the dust off your feet / you will need to kick until / you are the dust