broadview hotel breathing
in the trick mirror
of sunday moonlight
lethe, my dear absolver
you tell me glass only breaks
and never flows

and the river vanishes, too
before my eyes
like ghosts in the morning
and cursed wine
plucking mental pictures
from the jaws of drink

i picture her
in mantis green
beneath the overwhelming light
of setting stars
***** soda everywhere

the wasted space
in my head
rattles always
with that glossy night

my pale blue hand
hovered like a baby bird
over the mirror shards

a starry sky, a starry sky

my pale blue hand, the pendulum
drained cardinal sins
in the blood-warm bathwater

molten i woke
to your understated
outro song
crowded at the corpse door
with the curtains drawn
and only briefly wishing
phantom pain
on endless vigils
for a swollen soul

sealed the crypt
your moonlit recital ceased
to no applause

captive audience listening
to the hornets pouring out of me
i was running fingers
listlessly down your face
and dreaming of acid rain
—a picture in my head
that refused to die

ever mindful
of the bedroom door
hinging on your aches
and unborn eyes
the reanimated heart
chimed
with the twisted shape
of what awaits us all

a rising overture
from behind the veil
warm, wet handed
in a bath of blood

black lung whispered
abject terror in my ears
a circle of candles
and closed eyes
made plainly naked
by the thought of you
beneath the rising tide

i poured raw honey
down your abyssal throat
stole a different form
and fell into your arms
only sweet goodbyes
as i grabbed my overcoat