【Written by Paz Ortiz】

(the world is an oyster, and) you are
my twin pearl, my darling, a pitch perfect
circumference of calcium carbonate, a
full pi times ratio squared
—multiplied—
by two sides of the same soul

in the center of the universe
there was nothing, but
a shell-shaped haven
(and you gazed at it) and it came to be
that, within it, an iridescent freshwater pearl
drew her sister abreast for holy sanctuary

from the nacre a pair arose, one
in each orb,
and divided by body only, they (we)
spoke the no-word talk—drawn to their other
by the pull of their spirit—no one could
keep the me from the us

they then
crawled on hands that glowed
like sun-kissed seas
towards the convergence of their spheres
and in the intersection of the rings, laughed together,
noisily (like children during summer)