"The poem that is ‘worm’ began sometime in July 2023 with one of us at home (Jayant, in India) and the other (Lauren) in a café in Indonesia. Each of us was in a chair with a notebook and a laptop."

"nostrils catch // scent of  / of mother’s milk—"

"At one point, she even reared up and double / pawed it, her youth half-restored. Addie’s strong and quick, but / digging a hole large enough to fit a 75-pound pup is hard work,

“i call my cat a friend. the app / on my phone that claims to / translate his sounds says he / is saying Hello!”

“finding the small green pools / in which it was possible— / by looking into them— / to really be alone.”

“«Don’t hurt me,» the whip scorpion begs. «There’s a waning crescent, and rain, and your sheets looked secure.“

“But I’m not going to tell / you about any of them. Instead, I’ll confess / it was 11:53 PM in sauce-sticky seat that a boy first…”