Pull me through the winds,
Strip the velvet clean.
Tie me to the evening
Where you know the sun won’t lean.

Hollowed out my seasons,
Left the orchard bare.
Begging, “Love me like the shadows
Fading in the air.”

Pressed me to the heather,
Root my tongue to stone,
Watch the river splinter,
Pull apart the bone.

You stitched my name to thunder,
Even wrote it in the blue.
Shielding all and every echo
Until there’s only you.

Whatever you are,
I must be too.

I wonder,
wander,
falter.

Back — forth.

Now I’m
backed in the corner.
Silence is comfortable
to move in.

For the fourth time?

Back — forth.

Running,
cowering,
to cover my back.

But love seems to burst
forth from my gut.

Back — forth.

Singing,
humming—
it’s quiet.

But it’s sweet,
and now you’re back.

And I can’t seem
to bring the strength forth.

Back — forth.