Does That Shrivel

does that shrivel
it has to shrivel
start gently and gingerly
shrive one ill at a time

it's no use
it doesn't shrivel
it's easy to say
it has to shrivel
it just doesn't shrivel
just try
to shrive a dozen
in an ill without illness
sometimes it dances
like a giraffe
in a slipcover
sometimes it rolls
like a tear
in a live napkin
but it doesn't shrivel

so call the shrivers
with their nuptial harps
so call the short shrifts
with their hairy candelabra
it's sneezing now
like a necktie-covered hemisphere
it's laughing now
like a bedizened equator
it's snoring now
like a heart in a throat of ice
but it doesn't shrivel

holy sidereal acorn
holy honey-hoop
holy globe
headless and tailless
it has to shrivel

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