keep my skull (on your mantelpiece)

Wearing every woman before me like a patchwork coat

i wear her old skin
unfurl myself from her like new fabric
stitched onto used
i am a warm reminder to her cold memory
a continuation of coffee rings and unruly hair that make our sisters roll their eyes

somewhere you are still burning cigarette ashes into bathrobes
and making pancakes at 2 am
shuffling around to Elvis on the radio
humming along as the batter burns and hisses
it's sardonic reply to your carelessness

while me and my lips will always whisper
the world into fathomless dimensions
carrying on as if i don't
benefit from your hard work around my body
as if i don't
stand on your tired shoulders
it's women, all the way down

energy cannot be destroyed
whatever you did
every smile you handed to every waitress
every finger tap and cry of exclamation
sits in my pocket and hangs off the lips of strangers

you manifest in a DNA sequence
that turns into the shape of my eyes and
the way i take my tea
and when i breathe it's in an airspace that has known your frequency, your body
has felt your brash touch and smelt your coffee breath
i spin around in a room with your dust that
dances in the light of an open window

you wanna know what i believe in?
love is a lozenge to be sucked on
a crop to be cultivated and cared for
a neighbor to be called upon
and when i take my last breath in your presence
it will be passed on