Everything We Were

there were numbers enough. decimals to count. fractions to suspect. the quiet remainders left unsolved. 

all those crevices beneath the skin. dense with wanting. 

the monsters shout their names as the story collapses.

the thieves fiddle with the locks. while the empty room forgets. 

time undresses slowly. more child than predator. 

as we chase the failing math. 

of the monsters we once loved.