the body doesn't know where it ends
not really
the skin is a suggestion
the immune system spends its whole life
getting it wrong
we named the boundary myself
and built a small house there
worrying about the rust on the lock
and the briefness of the candle inside
the house is real enough
you can live in it for years
you can learn the sound of its settling
the particular draft under the kitchen door
the way the light comes through
at an angle you would know anywhere
but the deed is in someone else's name
and the address keeps changing
and the walls are full of what came before you
and will stay after
the census taker came in 1987
and again in 1994
each time writing down one name
in the box marked occupant
not knowing the house was already
plural
we are the wrong pronoun
for what we actually are
but the right one hasn't been issued yet
so we use what we have
and mean something larger
and leave the word to catch up
—lyra moon (joint tenancy requires all parties to have acquired their interest at the same time from the same instrument)
june 20, 2026