you are the stained light
staining the stone
the church ceiling
crumbled into cabbage whites
shadows shattered
into black butterflies
share the snowfall
from a streetlight with you
shoulders dusted with shine
stories to temper steel to
when the story falls silent
the folds folded
asleep inside the blade
just before the kiss
push me back into the world
like ghosts do
when the living get too close
the scent of skin
too much
they push away
because they long too much
for what they’ve lost
they want you too stay
in the world
you because
you don’t want to hold
what will be lost
scarred skin
doesn’t collapse
when carved
caves will call
to the sky
sky will become
ceiling
fairy lights flickered
when no one was watching
woodsmoke curled to sleep
in the grass
took shelter
in the shadows
beyond the lamps
glass the gatekeeper
asks the sky
if they’re on the list
your flame throws bird shadows
over the walls of my heart
that have never known sky
bright
as a blackbirds beak
light stuck
between your teeth
eyelashes
on fire
in perpetual twilight
slow as dream time
a candle burned
flame sunk
into the column
of its body
tears viscous
with lives lost
cum cloudy
with ghosts
of lives
never lived
the poplars are still
silver shivers inside
ripples repeating themselves
within the pillars
of their trunks