Counting Ghosts

blue epiphanies arrive. in gusts of wind and frigid fists. the world is delicate. lace and shit. held together by wealth and madness.

she digs. she searches for the source. gravity humming in her head like an impossible song. a small fire stranded in a long winter. a weak lock on a heavy door. the world is stopped. unwilling, the cold is hot. an urgent flame defies the storm.

the winter comes. as it must. each year. in some form. to smother. to weaken. to humble. to narrow the path. to pretend the failing warmth. to prove what is lost.

worn by the edge. savaged by the circumstance. time is the needle. skin is the thread. the seams betray us. each breath is a villain. amd a prince..

the ample scars. the yellow angles. the permanent arithmetic of open wounds.

continues to subtract. long after all is lost.