the thing that remains

beside your ring

the perfect pitch walks across skin

pursues kept emotion

crouching, advancing, staying alive

climbing the high dive

barred from the top pier

hammered wings flutter

a tiger pacing the floor

higher ground is one room over

still a step down is the lure

regrets keep the watch on forever

every shut of the door a betrayal

beyond sight leads to denial

hoping away and all the while

missing the idea

mile upon mile

hand on the dial

switching the channel

the nick of time to enamored

another color ready to dazzle

bliss knows no secret

still the smallest impair

tight against the inner ear

that is your fear

thread and woven to follow

the forged end of a needle

keeping a clock down to the chime

trapped in the sound of a whisper

beneath the threshold of a promise

quickly measured for sacrifice

sorrow swings a rope despite

the subtle slip of a knife

a seamless wreckage haste

night becomes today

and the thing that remains



Terry D’Arcy-Ryan