Days, your eyes clamped shut
Nights you grab hard
A sailor hoisting rope,
Nod as if to say ‘good’
Teeth clap, castanets.

Synapses don’t snap
Dud fireworks.

Always spare, you
Doled words out,
Tahitian pearls.
A motherless child,
You saw the world
Through a dark prism,
Silence, your cocoon

Your feet still cave-cold
Under blanket heap.
Odd I didn’t see cold feet
and your not being much
Longer as one thing,
Wanted to piece together
More shards but your body
Marked time poorly.
Bereft.