perhaps i am
a pigment
mercurial black
collecting tears
until a
stray nib
plucks me
from the jar

an ebon sliver
a numbness running
pins and needles
down your spine
a prickling
a burning
a blinding flash
igniting lightning
through codified
heartschisms

a totem carved
from driftwood
drowning myself
in an ocean
of sublimated
painshivers

a time capsule
of childhood dreams
encased in
adult realizations
crystallized
by the fading
memory of light
hot lances
in the sullen night

uncertain outside
myopic misperceptions
hoarfrost coating
the dismissive stare
of eternity