Nearing Autobiography

by Pattiann Rogers
     Those are my bones rifted
     and curled， knees to chin，
     among the rocks on the beach，
     my hands splayed beneath my skull
     in the mud. Those are my rib
     bones resting like white sticks
     wracked on the bank， laid down，
     delivered， rubbed clean
     by river and snow.
     Ethereal as seedless weeds
     in dim sun and frost， I see
     my own bones translucent as locust
     husks， light as spider bones，
     as filled with light as lantern
     bones when the candle flames.
     And I see my bones， facile，
     willing， rolling and clacking，
     reveling like broken shells
     among themselves in a tumbling surf.
     I recognize them， no other's，
     raggedly patterned and wrought，
     peeled as a skeleton of sycamore
     against gray skies， stiff as a fallen
     spruce. I watch them floating
     at night， identical lake slivers
     flush against the same star bones
     drifting in scattered pieces above.
     Everything I assemble， all
     the constructions I have rendered
     are the metal and dust of my locked
     and storied bones. My bald cranium
     shines blind as the moon