when you take my ring finger
bend it all the way back
make the snap as painless
as you go, as you do
lost in the blue of grief
and its instillations dilute the day
rain turned to frost through
a twig-crazed maze reflection
of a window imprinted by winter's traces
didn't have the stomach
the life, the wrist, the wincing
as you pulled my finger all the way back
ripping that ring you dared
thinking about putting on for
a commensurate second  
before you break