empty yourself of words
throw your meaning into the gaps
that close and swell and stretch
between you and them
tell
how you allow the dog
to roll in river’s silt
at night
dry
and then to bed
where you dream your husband
returns to you
in silken ashed caress
how you wake filthy
and sorrowed
tell
how every day arrives
to scrape you clean
of him

heel

watch
as
they step
each
into moments of withdrawal
as
the gears of wanting
bite at the earth
and carry them
unmoved
away

this is the world now

solitude
default

empty yourself of words

and sleep

.