The Sticking Point

...the sea deep as love. 

-Mary Ruefle, “Rain Effect”​

Because the blue and green of it

 are content.

Because I’ve opened my mouth

 to the salt and it tastes almost

like midnight or a wound. Because

 I will fall faster and lighter and

farther where there is no barrier reef

 but that’s not the sticking point.

See how sea enjoys a spirit of silence

 in its eels, its starfish. Because.

One poet dared to write the sea cold as

 love and knew I would ponder what

she meant: how the choices are few

 for all who ignore women in revolution.