shoulda stayed a microscopic tadpole, or better yet, shoulda stayed in the rings of an elm, shoulda remained in the weightless ether, shoulda sat at the core of a mountain, shoulda rolled w/breakers in the ocean, shoulda stayed mineral or moonlight
shoulda fought birth w/more doggedness, shoulda dodged its hook more diligently
but i was caught & reeled into this thing: this mess, this orbiting orphanage
this thick, lopsided, loathsome, spinning wilderness of lonesome-hood...