fairy lights flickered
when no one was watching
woodsmoke curled to sleep
in the grass
sunlight and midnight
lines the inside
of our chests
dandelions
became sunflowers
heads bowed
by the weight
of their manes
stories to temper steel to
when the story falls silent
the folds folded
asleep inside the blade
you’re the moth-eaten moths of memory
the torn tapestry of my life
its seams of moonlight
scars become skin
silhouettes pirouette
with the shadows
of marionettes
in another field
skylarks sleep
wings taking root
in the earth
I’ve been out watching moths
wings made from buddleia petals
brains the ghosts of embers
edges still lit
threads a fuse
my heart
more cave and cavity now
waiting for the collapse
how the wind
hisses a sigh
through the reeds
how the sea sings
far inland
walking with you
turned fields
into prairies
scars like lips sewn shut
kiss without tongue
I think of the wish
whispered
into a wine bottle
at the end of a party
I wonder
when will it break
be set free
granted
will it be
when you most
need it
when your life
in more pieces
than the glass
than sand
bright
as a blackbirds beak
light stuck
between your teeth
eyelashes
on fire