Bone House by Jennifer Montgomery

she’s building this house of shell
from the inside, building it

she’s washing the surface
wiping it down with salt
salt in the water
and then again
wiping it down

her hands raw
chapped
bent
gnarled
blue-bruised

wiping it down
and then again
salt in the water
wiping it down with salt
she’s washing the surface

all the time spent whispering:

shell is bone
shell is bone
shell is bone