took this day in tired hands,
a flimsy page in a worn paperback
made a fist and watched it crumple,
eight hours flashing behind eyelashes—
flickers of black and white, old movie film and vignettes.
sunrise burning into my palm,
relive its misty morning kiss,
faces blurred and voices smothered,
late afternoon sadness baked in sunshine,
the biting chill of evening, goosebumps and the swish of coats,
the sour taste of messing up
and falling down
and sinking into sand,
seashells cutting into knees—
i'm not by the ocean but i wish to be.
toss this sliver of your life into the
cleansing bonfire of sunset,
time burns to ash, hot embers,
smoke coating my lungs,
eyes shining.
love,
mari