To begin negotiations,What do you say,               as in,Please submit               a proposal14 words                     or lessTo be                      allowed to splinterIn.                  Would you be amenableOr                would you be a man about it,As in             would gender constructsBe a part         of the deal?Even sent-ient lands           can’t unmake meTrans, so let’s           make a pact:I’ll be your hue                of man &You can be my fall           -ingWater. Drink from my         I& I’ll return as precipice.We’ll be a cycle, unbroken,Breaking across the landscape—whoops,I didn’t mean to objectify you like that,This is my first time synchingWith a reclaimed break;Stanzas don’t count, only spitTheir melodies behind our backsAnd laugh when we thinkThe song might be over.This is my first timeAs a man of the woods,Man of the house, thisIs the first movementOf recomposition,The water I am,The steam I could be.First,            they asked to see my secrets, sent                            a survey crew of hard            accents, soft leather shoesto ask History to spill her guts.              Next came coffee, meal                            replacements, trucks,                                     tools, pipes. They dug                  deep lines into their hands, they asked    for time off, disability wages, didn’t            get it, got deep enough to suck                                air out and left. Sometimes      we forget a hole          without a tongue can sing,but let me ask you something: did you come              to stay? Rephrase: a hole is a hole                      is a place for something new                              and you seem caterpillared in                        your fuzz, liquefying body parts,                 fatigue. Come wrestle with me.Don’t worry, you can be                 planted without harvest,                                a fruitless tree or bitter root.              Seed yourself in rot displayed,                        rest your palms against my walls and push,                                        touch nothing here but heat.