Here in the embers
Of fading fire coals
Glow in the twilight
Of last night’s warmth
A sudden burst of summer
Descends recedes
In a quick ribbon of gale

This is an exercise in nothing
In the mental embattled garden
Of lost innocence where youth
And beauty find finity
We move out of never-ending
Lines into isolated circles

Rolling in haphazard paths
Searching for the straightness
Of the lost line, its hidden curves
Bending precariously to penetrate
Bones, cold fingertips
A forgotten whisper at sunset

Here I am begging
Again for the gift of speech
With mute indignant silence
Chewing on stones for bread
Granite melts slowly
In my mouth