the stillness

bated breath coats

those who listen in 

a cold song of despair

       do you remember 

who you said you were 

when the lights fell and the neighborhood 

dog’s bark sliced from two streets away

after smelling the fear

dripping off you like candle wax?

 

you forgot to blow it out again

 

let your eyes collapse 

in the wake of an undertow

the dancing lights huddled

in the darkness are more than 

twin moons or galactic chemtrails

this is more than a stubborn

cliffside you have been carved into

       hold up an umbrella 

for the wind and let yourself 

float away

 

it is dark now

sometimes, it is good 

for the stillness to

swallow you whole