She used to sit pretty in smoke plumes.
Yesterday, was found in the garden. Naked.
“Please don’t tell them, but I’ve burnt my house down.”
Years of stiff upper lips burying dead
yesterdays, she was found naked in the garden,
recalling sons, lovers, dogs (other precious nouns),
upper lip stiff from burying dead years,
mementos charred for their cruel charity.
Other lovers, (precious nouns recalled), sons and dogs
brought to boil, spilling white-hot clarity,
cruel mementos charity charred,
she severs the looped ouroboros head –
clarity spills, brought to white-hot boil.
Despite schizoid split, sing song pitch remained.
She loops. Head severed, the ouroboros
convulses, short circuits synapses.
Sing song remained split despite schizoid pitch,
names nearly on tongues, nicotine-stained maws
convulse, synapses short circuit.
New cigarettes are lit off ember tips,
maws on nearly tongues, her nicotine-stained name
ebbing in curled blue rings,
ember tips lit off new cigarettes.
Broken bone limbo, endless eclipse
in curled rings, ebbing blue,
less than zero, call it what you like…
endless limbo, bone broken eclipse,
dust to arid ashes, this was your life.
Smoke plumes sit pretty. She used to
Thomas Dylan Bolger 