Autoclave

this word somersaults through my mind

in my illness

“Auto”: short for car, celebrated mode of liberation

compactly enveloping our youth.

moving crucible of sex, power, and music

“Clave”:  not “enclave”, but related like water and lily

- past tense of cleave.

separate, intrusion-less whisper of our futures

“Autoclave”: a vessel which holds inside something changed

forever.

heat pressure, then purification

The dichotomy of merger- resolved