smoke splices its tongue
more surface area
to taste the dark
bells hold onto
all the peals struck
from the dark
of their bodies
a forever home for shadows
hung in the wind
that whips whispers
from their stillness
stars born
from the sparks
of figure skaters
figure eighting
upon the dark ice
of deep space
light a candle
with me
all night
we’ll watch
the lowering
of the flag
of its flame
held together
by threadbare threads
my frayed feathers
stroke the sky
from the ground
is love
the performers
performing for themselves
a slow show
once the wings
of the main show
packed away
instruments played gentle
as injuries
sunlight and midnight
lines the inside
of our chests
a gate
spills the garden
into the street
how the wind
hisses a sigh
through the reeds
how the sea sings
far inland
leaves become
same colour
as the fire
that made them fall
the white of a waterfall
the moon hiding half its face
words brighter
than the paper
they scar
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
the poplars are still
silver shivers inside
ripples repeating themselves
within the pillars
of their trunks