EVERYTHING THAT WAS FLESH OF YOUR FLESH, SAYS JONATHAN

EVERYTHING THAT WAS FLESH OF YOUR FLESH, SAYS JONATHAN
 
Everything that was flesh of your flesh, says Jonathan
is about to drop off you, like a shell –
detach and come off, like a hymen, like the scab of a wound
like snakeskin.
Every inside is peeling off, says Jonathan, becoming outside
to make space for a new inside.
A boy peels off to become a youth. A caterpillar to become a cocoon.
The cocoon will be a moth.
Even I, who is moving inside you
will drop off and fall.
Like ancient skin, slowly I will wither and dry up.
But I won’t forget you. I’ll sneak in, in disguise, I’ll become a hat
in your closet, a coat
a pearl brooch
that you’ll be able to pin on your lapel.

EVERYTHING THAT WAS FLESH OF YOUR FLESH, SAYS JONATHAN