get prompt
feel language strain, slice, split containment and split
worry
read clock
bury self in time, in work, in distraction
return to prompt
the word is noise is frozen fire razor-edged
worry
slice ribboned mind to bleed words through
worry more
words flood torrent drowns
write
erase
drowning, weep
write
erase
panic
repeat until there's no time
breathe shallow
post
panic
repeat
every photon hurled across
the hungry void
was sent to draw you
for the joy of those lucky
to be close to you
and every photon fired through
the lonely dark
wants to hear the crackle
of lightning in the voice
lucky enough
to need to describe you
for the benefit of
a distant friend
or a loved one
immune to the seduction
of ricocheting light
open hands
empty
i am
falling
to my knees
a thousand
and one
times
i am
swallowing
myself
to take
less space
i am
covering
my tracks
to find
hiding
space
i am
offering
nothing
that's not
utilitarian
i am
sorry
my words
are so loud
and so brittle
so empty
handed
i fell into the sky once
tripped and spread my arms
instead of hitting the ground
i gathered stars like diamonds
but they burned through my grip
roaring with silvered voices
i fell into the void
filled my pockets with planets
by the dozen to create a feast
of every cuisine in the universe
but they crumbled to dust
lint, a finger nail, a crumpled receipt
i fell into your laughter
at my tales and knew peace
stopped searching
began learning
even that sacred blaze
time made semi-divine
each second's jewelled
breath in a silk damask pouch
detailed in beadworked tears
even that endless breath
feeding the cataclysms
of life unfettered by aging
even the spinning of multiverses
shivering through the dance
of fiercely imagined gods
glimmering in and out
of reality's spotlights
even the endless aeons
would not be time enough
to map the gift
of your skin