I first met her on the other side of town where the highways change and cars run down I asked where she was headed to which she answered— with a question Are you going home alone or am I coming She spoke of a place nowhere I had heard where barely any birds now chirp and never touch the ground said it must've been from wild fire or unexpected drought that the men she'd taken in never let her out She is why— deserts make mirages lie and why— in gasoline the rainbow hides and my— tongue tastes of aluminum why— lust left me siphoned I came to near a river after falling to the ground where she waded in the shallows and waived me down as she hummed something familiar and sang it's water that I need playing with the bloated rats floating at her knees She is why— deserts make mirages lie and why— in gasoline the rainbow hides and my— tongue tastes of aluminum why— lust left me siphoned