the weight of the world

i'm trapped

by the weight of the world,

hanging over

the edge

of rolls of blubber,

crusted over

with continents and oceans.

gaea binged

upon her subjects,

watched them shake

under her watchful gaze,

drunk on power

as she slid them

down her tongue,

consumed in vengeance

by the earth

that i now hoist

from her wheelchair

onto the bed

where she will toss

her sheets

to the floor,

because she's

too warm already,

sweating with the exertion

of keeping

her heart beating

and her ribs rigid

as they threaten to collapse

under her weight.

she is burdened

by her own existence,

and i am assigned to be

her caretaker,

her plan b.

when her lungs

shrivel

from breathing in smoke

and her hands

sweat

with the effort of

sitting upright,

when her body

fails,

my job

is to hold up

the weight of the world

until it breaks me,

too.