Bread crumbs were not enough—
insubstantial as memory
flitting away like sparrows
through the trees. He was lost,
tangled in possibility’s inevitable
collapse; he could not pull past
the brush to a salient interpretation:
where he went, where he was going,
or what language he now spoke.
–
She had fled years ago,
escaped to the witches who
had forgiven her childhood
sins. She no longer believed
in the lies of her father,
the long walks in the woods
with her brother. She returned
now for some redemption,
only to find him not at home.
(October 25, 2019)
subtext 