vanish/songbirds.

with a
dull thud
a patter
of heavy fingers

the click
click
clicking
of a spent cassette

i dream of
jungle cats
and
oysters

every parasite
in that
salty
musky

opal liquor

can
run from chin to toe
from palm
to crook
to elbow

i curse
the waking songbirds
pulling the red
from
reverberant
ashen skies
pulling the distance
unfurling the ghost sheets
that find your
fingers
drawing circles
in honey

and the songbirds
purl
with
quavering silver threads
that i will
vanish
vanish

v . a . n . i . s . h