The Dead Teach Me Grounding Techniques

Put a pebble in your shoe. Slit the deer.

Open the gate to the mountains. The asphalt

has begun to pray. Snap a rubber band

around the wrist. Bite the rind. Strip

needles from the pine. Swaddle the wolf.

Place your palm above the flame. Inside

the light. To not go. Swallow the squid

whole. Flagellate. Open the door

to the river. Paint your nipples chartreuse.

Squint until the headstones blur. Step

on a lightbulb. Worry the stone.

Rub in the stain. To remain. Psalm.

Open the hatch to the sea. Scald

a thumbnail. Be still. Let the bee sting.

O clap your hands. Gnash incisors. Bury

your face in fur. Be not far from me.