Salvage the Bones

by Jesmyn Ward

Seeing him broke the cocoon of my rib cage, and my heart unfurled to fly.

Junior’s forever the puppy weaned too soon.

“To give life”—Skeetah bends down to China, feels her from neck to jaw, caresses her face like he would kiss her; she flashes her tongue—“is to know what’s worth fighting for. And what’s love.”