dead light

Photo by Irina Iriser on Unsplash

curve the star / past the blue horizon / past the yellow house
around the lilac bush / overgrown / by the wind-stripped siding
the chickadee’s heart / beats / to the pace of my footsteps
tangled in memory / sinking / through the rotten floorboards
the air smells of ash / the sky painted magnetic / one more tragedy
lurking on the timeline / breathing on the trampoline
trying to hold the feeling / to taste sugar / on my tongue
not the gravel / not the rust / only dead light across the universe
so soft / against the petals / against my palm