damp hand

photo credit: rowen maeve

stiff hand on fleeting metal
fingers fretting
frozen
in that phase before you speak
anticipation
but instead stay still
jaw ached and creaked
it’s locked in dark
i’m useless
and it hurts to
pick me up
because i’m heavy
sore and
drying still
damp
immersed in shock
that kind that slaps you back
the kind that winds you
with hysterics
leaves an unproductive body
all dragged up
scraped out
and stiff
it’s shivering
with pulsing limbs
still
lay close enough to dip a toe in