Or might be, they stipulated.
No one, not even the scientists, 

had a desire to dive deeper on this:
we’ve seen it and it’s horrible. 

150 feet of mouths kissing 
other mouths to form a body. 

It’s been growing for decades,
a suggestion of time that implies 

progeny, even grandchildren,
but it could be as young as twenty-four. 

Undoubtedly the worst age.
I barely made it. 

So I do feel a kinship.
I don’t feel afraid 

when I dip my toes into the ocean
and the ocean bites back. 

When I have a sharp thought,
one that digs like a nail in a palm, 

I imagine it connecting to all the thoughts
that came before it, mouth to mouth, 

to form a version of me.
The longest me in the world. 

The me who prayed
until they swept the pews, 

the me who loved my best ...