There But For the Grace of God, Go I

Tulip petals budding from her laced cuffs,
		 make-up on a waxed face heavy,  head  low—
	an emerald dress drapes enviously on faulty perfect skin.

her locket turns on chain-link thread, frame & glass
		brittle and black by the smokestack’s exhaust.
	never wanting to see the sepia photo inside, last

Chances to see façades yellowed—
		lips absent—platinum sunrises
	through scratched skylights embroider arachnids

into corneas. Spider steps trace steps on linen—whispers
		from the tranquil thumps of the flowers on floorboards.
	I lace my fibrous tendons through the grommets of her dress—

held together by thumbprints traveling on grease trails.
		crystalline satin folds ripple,
	stalactites falling through porous, tender scalps.

  1. awaitingthefirstfrost posted this