[ID: A poem in the form of a table. The title, written at the top, is “Glossary of Terms”. The table has 4 columns and 5 rows. The columns are “star”, “ghost”, “mouth”, and “sea”. The rows are “meaning”, “see also”, “antonym”, “origin”, and “dreams of being”.
Meaning: Star: bright, ancient wound I follow home. Ghost: the outline of silence. Mouth: an entryway or an exit. Sea: cold ancestor; bloodless womb
See also: Star: spark; stranger; scripture; sting. Ghost: shadow; photograph; hum. Mouth: fish; slug; fist; slop; any synonym of please. Sea: heart-song; swarm-song; salt-song; swallower of songs
Origin: Star: myth; a mother’s stories; matter’s static. Ghost: all things birth their own opposites. Mouth: what came first, the sword or the wound? Sea: N/A
Dreams of being: Star: reached. Ghost: filled, or flesh. Mouth: the sea. Sea: N/A (does not dream; is only dreamed of). End ID.]
“I used to think I was the strangest person in the world, but then I thought there are so many people in the world, there must be someone just like me who feels bizarre and flawed in the same ways I do. I would imagine her, and imagine that she must be out there thinking of me too. Well, I hope that if you are out there and read this and know that, yes, it’s true I’m here, and I’m just as strange as you.”
