Sea flat

swept platinum:

 

sky a full

head, of cloud

 

& the sand

crackles

 

like a

snagged nerve.

 

It’s as cold

as my heart,

 

this frozen

kernel of winter,

 

keening.

*

Night comes

early:

 

slapping over

the sea

 

like a

closed lid.

 

You fight

for attention

 

frightened of

an ending.

*

I’m candy

wrapped

 

breath hot

like

 

industrial

heating.

 

I’m casting

runes

 

Kestrel

glides

 

two black

cats

 

a single

magpie.

 

The horse

kindly

 

tries to

kill me.

 

I believe in

effervescence.

 

The word

slides

 

from my tongue

like kisses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The earth has

turned again

 

I feel its pull

weighty:

 

all night you

lie with me

 

chasing acid

fields, till dawn.

 

We share these

dreams of

 

summer seas,

 

beaches burning

hot, too hot

 

on tender feet.

 

Back then

we juggled

 

broken hearts,

 

now we listen

for their beat

 

expecting breath

to fall apart.

 

Leaves lie brittle

on the lawn,

 

your hair so white

I think of

 

Christmas songs.

your bones snap

 

the kestrel rises

on the wind

 

we’re lost in

misplaced memory

 

trying to sketch

the pathway.