i was born lake, formed lake evenbefore that, the dig deep landscapebefore the motor, pine letter makingberms where the snow retreats, somany parts of me are containers forwateri had to move, i didn’t know thisfrom outside of my body, from outside of any body, didn’twant to be the sloshing water,didn’t want to be the wake, didn’twant to wake to know who gets thewaterwho gets the water out/i was born lake, formed lake,filled up and emptied out lake,decades lake and what to showfor it, miles lake with bubblesforming, lake approximatingwater until it finds flowearth comes in, not base of lakebut base of skull, base of over-whelmed body made of dirt sosinking, so water makes the messglow, the messbody, its liquid-solid partnership going all directionsfinding music under lifted heelmud’s facial structure finallydoing it right, you’re new to the community play so the role isn’t going to fit youbut with the ground under youyou can really put on your wateryou can happen to yourself inthe time it takes to happen, youcan partner your gender on its owntwos are everywhere and nowhere/i was born lake, formed lake andsomething else happenedsomething else happenedsomething else happenedsomething else happenedsomething else happenedsomething else happenedsomething else was happeningmy first time body worked upto the edge, this first timewaking, not first time waternot only water not only wakingcurious bloom waiting underthe waves/i was born lake but figured land, asthough you could just tip and getall the water out, as though thewater would go nowhere and theland would remain emptymy enduring liquid seemed to causeothers fear, confusion, discomfortthey couldn’t make the water meansomething for themselves (orworse: they could)some people believe water to be theworst that could happen, some sortof consequencejust tell me you know nothingabout submerging, tell me yourefuse curiosity toward yourown flowbeing lake depends on the landthis is not called spectrumthis cannot be placed on a linethis cannot be plotted, is alwaysmovingmy waterbody taught me that————————————–jj rowan called us from Laconia, NH.voicemailpoems.org/submit/facebook.com/voicemailpoemsx.com/voicemailpoemsbsky.app/profile/voicemailpoems.bsky.socialinstagram.com/voicemailpoems