I came to art like the calamity of hours forget-me-nots leaving no trace nor cup to sip the strain fading listen to the clay defy the light it means something the secret will crack you open cover you with earth and forest like the rafters of heaven become shadows of some fast and heavy…

the sign cracked my skull split it grapewise I think it said sleep with fire and kiss like you believe the wind laughed in huge letters blew my glasses clear across the field tell me if you find them I would dearly love to see it again

cracked lids turquoise and steel we offer what’s inside the vices the pain beneath the surface waiting for a taste of our fragile skulls beaten into place the embers ignite

painted jigsaw evening dress pulling me home to a bed it took years to discover a back-curve murmur sitting on my tongue porcelain swallows wings tucked we race to the garden where you bathe my mask invisible and promise to kiss the boundary until I can breathe

I am a strand an unaccustomed toy charming as a vase the night breathes in forgets the lake kindred being find me in the crowd I’ve come again to blindness the one short of youth and the faint clink of horsemen open the lock see the morning our position just…