place your hand just here and feel the slam against my ribcage

and in the hollow of my center as I reach and pull and

come back with wisps between my fists

and tell me what to do with this beating writhing thing

can it be that I have sliced too thin

feeding myself on crumbs and shreds

and convinced myself that I am satisfied

even as the rumble echoes up my spinal cord

I have dismissed as distant thunder that will never touch ground

as I wait in my cocoon

is it gluttony to want to swell: to feel and fill my core

is it gluttony to want at all–when wanting is all there is

after bare living is satisfied

I ask but I feel no shame as I grab enough and then some

pushing and pulling and snatching what I can

while I have two hands that grasp

if it be in my power to be expand then I intend to swell to bursting

to fill myself with all that I can and then explode

then, you can again, place your hand against my chest

and feel the life pulsing there