she started it she said it wasn’t fair
every surface covered with lichen
it’s one thing to know something from a book

she was a mercy like sugar ants under my skin
always climbing the stairs and turning away
she never made this crossing before

the moon will come out it cannot be swallowed
we are underwater
why did you bring this to me?

snapshot pinned to a corkboard
a skeleton of birch the silhouette of songbirds
how rain strips away the urgency