use the scarred skin
of your heart
to scratch a match
awake
then light a candle
in the cave
reveal the stalagmite
and stalactite stretching
dripping
towards each other
eventually
the tips of their tongues
will touch
spark at the heart
of the dark
they share
you’re the last light of the year
the late light of the day
that touches the old fire
that still clings to the tips of the trees
in my haunted park
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
the hinges of your heart
sprinkles rust like pollen
as the dark wind of your blood
squeezes through its doors
left ajar
a tree shakes off
a torrent of rain
dipped its head
in the sky
sky packed too tight
bruised blue
needs to split itself open
thunder the wedge
hammered into the heart
of the stone
of the sky
songs soft as September
whispers through the grass
curtains need the breeze
to touch the room
a little more
in perpetual twilight
slow as dream time
walking with you
turned fields
into prairies
scars like lips sewn shut
kiss without tongue
silhouettes pirouette
with the shadows
of marionettes
the cry of church bells
across the city
serpents of scent
wrapped round your wrists
held together
by threadbare threads
my frayed feathers
stroke the sky
from the ground