Evidence

the structure. torn pockets content with the vertigo of broken thread. the substance. soft skin. hard bones. close enough to hurt one another. the shear. the years rasped off. layers. fragments of. the tensile disputes between touch and pleasure. when such discrepancies could still be measured.

the callous. tempts the hammer. eager to feel again. while the scar hisses hard against the silence. brutally entitled to its want.

the villains. worn down to the nub. as she scours the puzzle for excuses. the days in pencil. the nights in ink.

pictures. in dust and skin. heavy butterflies stall the wind. missing steps. rabbits in the garden. the absolute. the praise of the symptoms. the worship of the disease.

her trial in empty dresses. her conviction as naked as her defense.