You walk around
With these ghosts beside you
And the fire you touched with your bare hands
Burns up through your ribcage, your heart,
Until smoke drifts out into the open air
With the song that flutters out of your throat, your mouth,
To mingle with the smoke, the stars, the moon, the black night,
Fading into half-remembered forms,
The soft hint of a smile scattered in the nightingale breeze
When the birds start singing through the half-formed mists
Of soul, memory, smoke, song;
The gentle crackling of the world’s fire in your gut
And your hands: singed, blackened, burnt;
You walk around
Haunted.
May 20, 2022