ello, jello

When I put my dancing skeletons shirt on today, I didn’t know

I didn’t know it when he asked me if I spoke Spanish and then savored out the familiarity of my full name

I didn’t know it when he passed me a bag of guava candies to share with my crew mates from my “delicate lady hands”

I didn’t know it when he kissed me on the cheek (and kissed my captain and the other deckhand) and told us he loved us

I didn’t know it when I pulled his lingering hands away and when I responded that I was leaving the next day

I didn’t know it when he asked me to stay

I didn’t know it then

But today I know

I know that he’s meeting the skeletons of his past, stuck in a loop by circumstance

They’ve found him and it’s his time to dance – he has no way out

So under the midday heat I peel off my skeleton shirt

And I burn