The moon smiled at me last night
I wanted to pluck it from the sky and hold it tenderly in my palms,
Moonlight illuminating the lines on my face, slight warmth caressing my cheeks
But I held back, worried my clumsy fingers would break the delicate crescent,
And my grubby palms would dim its light
So it stayed nestled in the velvet blanket of the sky, surrounded by tiny stars,
Just out of reach
Today, it’s gone.
________________________
The wind speaks to me
It whispers softly in my ear and soothes my burning head
When there is no one left to touch me, the wind holds me as I lean into it or lets me fall,
Gently onto the grass
When even the wind is gone, I crumple
There is nothing left
________________________
Brambles strike my vision
Great big black cracks in the starburst white of the sky
Thorns wrap around my eyes and I bleed, vision blurring, rose tears streaming
Can you see for me?
Can you tell me what you see?
I turn to you and you glow red and I glow red for you
The world is splitting at the seams, the grass at the roots, my vision into twos
And you are beside me
How will I repay you?
________________________
I lay down for a quick nap and slept for fifty years
Blades of grass pressed into my cheek and flowers grew over me, arched veined backs straining to protect me from the piercing sun
The air was a drug and I took it in willingly, eyes rolling back into my head, lips relaxing, brow falling
The dirt held my body, shaped itself around it, and sunk into my pores, infusing me
I lay curled and content, breathing slowing to a stop
Time stopped for no time at all and the world moved on
I became a nest for the birds and food for the rodents who feasted on my dirt stained skin and ivory bones and blue veined eyes
I sunk, inch by inch, soil slowly trickling in through my mouth, my eyes, my nose, my ears, filling my mottled skull with thick, dark dirt
I felt hot and heavy and happy
I let go, releasing myself to the earth, sleep fading to black
Finally, the end.