5, IN UNPROTECTED WATERS
[
A
distortion
in place a
sympathetic
division
of indigo
until counting
dissolves
this way
blue
only
a fabrication
]
[ 5.1 ]
She began by moving her head in a pattern | insect blue
cochineal | carmine or crimson couldn’t fend off crushing | black
ore, amorphous, forming crusts | The way she smiled made it difficult
to dye | white, then red, last a bluish-black, in order
of tenderness, opacity | If tinted: a window (what’s another word for hole
in the head) | an ancient eye grinds indigo
a lower concentration, flushing | She tried moderating her heartbeat | until
counting prohibited the Devil’s dye, uruku, derived
from the seed of a deep orange fruit | modulates the size of eyes |
[ 5.2 ]
In stratification a sheer white veil | Would she have chosen to dissolve
this way | a fugitive blue, a material red allowing less
intimacy | fluorescent or lasers when irradiated, wavelengths | She didn’t like
being seen through | translucence
a sign of eligibility | She wanted to be seen
through | merge violet and red: selective
sweep | of solar rays the potential for albinism | She had never
been alone nor coupled | how embryos must constantly close
in themselves | She wanted to escape the confines of skin |