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 Lightning฀Bugs Our฀home฀continents฀may฀be an฀ocean฀apart,฀but฀on฀warm฀nights when฀I฀watch฀these฀living฀embers฀flash their฀shorthand฀message,฀I฀know the฀light฀of฀dead฀and฀distant฀stars shoots฀through฀both฀our฀geographies. Despite฀dichotomies— my฀Northern฀pines,฀your฀leguminous acacias,฀my฀drifting฀fog,฀your sun,฀implacable—the฀shapes฀are constant,฀the฀outward฀manifesting the฀inward.฀And฀what฀a฀composite of฀meander,฀twist,฀and฀sphere฀we฀are, my฀pea฀vine฀wrapping฀its฀helix฀coil to฀your฀florets฀which฀strain฀like clover฀toward฀the฀honeyed฀cell. So,฀tell฀me฀again฀how฀you฀will฀lie฀at฀last separate,฀discrete฀as฀each฀grain฀of฀sand that฀blows฀across฀the฀face฀of฀Ozymandias, and฀I฀will฀tell฀you฀how฀the฀ridges of฀a฀shell฀press฀home฀its฀signature, the฀spiraled฀arc฀of฀imprint฀not just฀an฀encounter฀but฀memory that฀lies฀deep฀in฀the฀vast฀space of฀each฀atom—your฀hand฀pressing the฀small฀of฀my฀back฀to฀you,฀the฀nape of฀my฀neck฀and฀coil฀of฀my฀hair฀cupped to฀your฀other฀palm฀as฀stars฀wink฀out and฀the฀searching฀symmetries฀of฀our฀bodies believe฀that฀this,฀this฀is฀the฀only฀revenge. ...

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