For the Dancer

Inspired by Jesmyn Ward

I wish I could tell you how I mourn your innocence,

how I pray for a shield, 

I clung to my baby blanket that wrapped around my limbs. my limbs, small and swollen, cushioned by my mother's organs. I was warm, I clung to the insulation of two beating hearts. 

cut in half in a ceramic bowl, the edge of the spoon carves out the meat from the middle, sawing at the membrane that encases the pulp.