In the tank, they let you touch her

slime-slick arms uncoiling

for yours, your hands going white

in the cold water. Her body

is a different kind of a metal,

a copper bracelet wrapped around

your wrist. She could pick you up

like nothing, hold you so still and close

you forget the air.

A body like hers never forgets

the violence of survival.

She could disappear

through a crack in the glass.

She could take your eyes.