Amasra

The Last Star of Amastris

With my mouth full of birds,
and having taken just the tonic,
I find the sky filled with my words;
painted in distances.
Hobbled and haunted.

The way down is hidden from my view.

My hands are soiled with my own birth.
I’m crawling backward. I’m drawn into -
where we all were dead and where nothing hurt.
This is your river, but you’re drowning too.

The way down is hidden from my view.
The way out is given to me through you.

I would be found pacified
if I gave in to
the mania for breaking
every part of you.