No Remainder

She circles back on me
Whirling like a dervish
Tumbling in waves
Choppy, strident, searching
For an uttered explanation
Eyes wide open on the world
Capturing this kaleidoscope
Fractal by fractal
Frame by weary frame
I hide in black and white
Standing imminently still
Breath catching at handholds
Hopeful that she doesn’t blink
Hiding in shadows
That convalesce the light
Waiting for the passing
Of longing and circumstance
To bring her back to me
To square her in my mind
Like so many angles
Striving to be smooth
To be everything I want
With no remainder.

Ghost Bones

This freezing cold
Inside my bones
Spreading infinite
Like wildfire
Caught on the breeze
Cold smoke sighing
Behind a cloudy lens
These consequences
Stultifying
This fragmentation
A pressure mounting
She moves in my arms
All soft and hazy
Helpless as a fawn
Waiting for the dawn
But I’m not enough
I’m ghost bones
Clattering around
Inside leathered skin
Waiting for the sun
To melt my insides.

Reptilian

This fear contains
Constricts as it moves
Sinuously smooth
Coolly calculating
Quite fascinating
For buzzards
Who pick on flesh
Like politicians
Suitable for wear
When sectioned off
These lies slip out
Through chapped lips
Labored consequence
Of fictional hopes
Shattered on the floor
So we leave hope
With love and trust
On the cutting table
Giving in to fear
And its discontents
This coiled cobra
Forever poised to strike
Consequently gone
In a puff of smoke.