Last Step

the bent key. the flex of the lock. as it squeezes. a parable of flesh. in a slaughterhouse of touch. little girls wearing their men. tiaras and pennies. deep wells. where the echo never reaches the surface.

the simple doll. yarn heart. button soul. a series of masks. each one hiding nothing other than the obvious. ample wounds under the smother of conceit.

the smallest particle. too small to see. fears nothing. the cartography of skin is mutable. relative. the cold wind chokes on the dying things. everything disappears eventually. subtle monsters in their skinny jeans. fiddle with the zippers on empty magazines. the casual dominion that circumstance prevails. heavy drapes on shattered windows.

the science of people. in quick staples and slow infections. rumors of why. haunting.

tenative ghosts. solved by their mazes. broken colors that name her sickness. in rich pastels and fetid crayons. open bridges. circle the path. absent gods attempt to dance. to the missing music.

the simple lies of time. the chronic boasts of truth. nothing is small enough. to fit inside this manic equation. the weeping wolf. the nervous swine. the fever of the hunt betrays them.

soft needles coax the vein. in a panic of skin. the death inside the box uncertain.