I wonder if the candle
is sucking smoke
back into its body
daylight crashes
against the skylight
woodsmoke laces the air
with the cream
of its song
I write to you
to keep you near me
all my taps are dripping
the sun froths and flares
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
share the snowfall
from a streetlight with you
shoulders dusted with shine
in another field
skylarks sleep
wings taking root
in the earth
ghosts aren’t only
what has been
they’re also
what never happened
echo of songs
never sung
never listened to
you’re the green fronds of fire
that grouts the cobbled back streets of my heart
the bright butterflies still being born
from the braided shadows of brambles
blossom become sentient
lamps wore away
at the dark
silhouettes pirouette
with the shadows
of marionettes
I miss the tenderness
of being near you
your body soaked
in star and sea light
the sighs
from stroked shores
I don’t think about the thorns
I think about the blackberries
of your love
how they reveal the labyrinths
of my fingerprints
that touches the dark
trying to find your face