Dried blood
underneath fingernails
often looks
like dirt.

---

Barbed wire
And spider webs
Are known
To bend
Around fence posts
If they need
A home.

---

If I could vanish into thin air, I would.
I’d like to be light enough to float by
so you couldn’t hear my footsteps.
Instead the air is heavy,
and my lungs are sinking,
collapsing upon my heart.
Maybe if my lungs stopped breathing.
Maybe if my heart stopped beating.
Maybe if my mouth stopped eating.
I would float.

---

I’ve never
seen a skull
who wasn’t
smiling.