dust leaps from a cracked sill
a suicide leap
it falls
from a ferris wheel
spinning ethereally in a ray of antique light

he complains of filth again
but I don’t notice
I only see ellipticals
riveting in wood grain
as stairs crack in explosive silence

he tells me go up there
says he knew I would anyway
so I run
when russet reverberations
become stained with blood

I find her upstairs
face flushed
swollen
with eyes dripping of humiliation
she tells me he meant everything
tells me about the dust
that it wasn’t a suicide leap
but a leap of faith
she said they danced
eyes blinded by the sun
fingertips pressed to the window
outlining shapes in glass fog
to imagine a life outside