lingering, nothing ascends
the road up the mountainside, the hatchet

I read the names out loud
pause on each to give them refuge

I envision your imagination
the image torn, like snowfall

paths between paths
give them names, mount them torches

a single heartbeat
not preceded nor followed

travellers, their remains on
slabs of black glass, like ice crusts

exhale with me, harvest my crop
horned and winged creatures

a child cries over the noises
a  wobbly fan sweeping its despair away

is that your call?
a blasting cap stuck in you as a remnant voice

they are exempt;
old shadows join and leave the forest

molten in its core
the eye of your friend, your prisoner

a single yellow light marks
both edges. the suddenness, the flurry

another single heartbeat
preempting another -