CIGARETTE EMBER LOST IN BLACKOUT'S HUSH

(self. portrait) with doublehelixdreams�"

coiling (through) time’s soft

fingertips whispering meaningmeaningmeaning:

(star-boned) staircase unwinds,

white-blue hushes of was.is.willbe

(not so much stairs as) ladder(spiral)thing

each rung �" tinyghostlight, a sigh of glow

(cigarette ember lost in blackout’s hush)

o(life) fansbehind me like birdthingflutter�"

or quicksilver deck of gonehands shuffled by

lastnight’s magician.

irony�"grief’s own punctuation:

a black&white peacockprint, scatteredfeather-memory

casting shadows where color might-have-been.

(so much depends upon noticing)

the weight of absence,

the presence of what is not.

:: 01.30.2025 ::