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3 Sparkler I spend the day trying to elude my shadow. Now it’s waiting for me to surface. It’s eaten nothing a gull wouldn’t eat starting with the eyes, always that jelly. There’s a tiny baby in there, breathing like a frogman. The shadow isn’t bothered by the squirming of what it swallows, it doesn’t have to be turned upside-down 24 times a day like the mind does because it’s an hourglass. Like someone who’s finished the test first, it acts superior while you’re still trying to decipher the cheat code on the bottom of your sneaker. I have stayed under as long as I can. The red vault in my head opens wider. Shadow, your ringtone’s too pretty to answer, when you were little you never had to worry about being tied to a chair. It was how they said they’d find out the truth. You never had to worry about the truth or the chair or the red vault in your head as you tried to stay under longer and longer. Hello, you just wore your garlands. You made love to buildings. You leaned your ladder against Nijinsky. The flame that comes out of the top of my head is burning down through my neck. I wasn’t going to be all right. They intended a sacrifice all along, scented me so beetles would finish the job. My shadow will have to find another way home. ...

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