and suddenly ivy is curling
round your bones, upward
from a carpet of red
webbed spines and prickling
tiger-lilies burst from your pores
in full blossom
and when you open your eyes
you are Alice, tethered and dangling
in the space between
Wonderland and this tricky web
nevermind how you got here
the summer sun is setting, melting
behind cherry-satin curtains
a bloodbath of light thickens the air
and an arm-chair veined with ivy
roots your bones in web
this red red room is all gushing
and pounding with the echo of your pulse
and suddenly you have tasted
a feverish something
wordless and strange, itching
to surface your skin
like the tiger-lily uncurling stigmata—
wild orange petals from your palm
