subtext

a network of shadows

across a path

connect patterns

dormant through my night

I am constrained

with chains of doubt

and fear—abstracted

from stark moments

decades old

for more than a moment

they swirl like dust

in late afternoon

sunlight—

thin and pale

for less than a moment

i hold these moments

like crumbling oak leaves

falling from delphic hands

back into shadow

(December 24, 2023)