As blood from wine,
He is transformed;
The words solidify—
Lift from the page
Like a starling murmur
flows in morning air.
Obsessively, his thoughts
Turn and return
To the slightest wisp
She might, in passing,
Have whispered.
Memory is present
Always to form
A different future.
He writes and revises,
Remembers and reforms,
As if a candle’s smoke
Can reshape a flame;
As if all the words
Are uttered correctly,
He will be reborn.
(February 5, 2018)
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