Here is the line
drawn in flesh
the vertical gash
no man’s land.
I’m a practiced hand
with compass and ruler
making walls of words
where flesh should be.
Here is the well
of pure pain
the cup that
runneth over.
And I at the bottom
misshapen dragon
with flightless wings
and memories of old battles.
Here is the breach
that breaks the heart
the trespass
of all reason.
Distilling fear to hemlock
and other bodily fluids
into novel poisons
for self medication.
Here is the cave
unborn grave of so much
that to enumerate the losses
is to court madness.