window

Halloween has left its thrills scattered like dead leaves, no tricks or treats, just a bowl of candy and a blue moon loosed. The days scrape and scatter, false flags and empty bags and the aspects of the season. Sunlight spills through a dusty window, dancing motes and the last deeds of flies framed with the weight of curtains and the warmth that’s all but gone. The day down the lane, the wheel of sky and breath. The ache ascended breath by breath, the daylight paints and pools.

The coffee rages its crown of steam in place, plumes unraveled into the sun striped air. The afternoon only so much at a time, until the time given overflows, vessel to vessel and name after name. The sore joints and bleeding feet of contrition, the body blows coming fast and low, the birdsong bother slipping in between the feel and the know. Each swallow sets of alarms, the warmth of the elixir, the belly full of fire. The light dulls and thins as the sun moves along.

The days rush by, the hours drag on. The light caught upon the overcast, the glow gone to heaven and heaven on a schedule. I am shards and splinters, hung up on the grim insistence and the last misdeal. Small blessings find whatever’s left behind, garnished with hearts and stars and wishes, while the numbers keep coming. Running late as it gets later, running down as the engine coughs and spits. A hand held open, waiting to be taken. A gesture left out in the cold.