Quiet bloodletting—counting monarchs
over boysenberry buds.

In time you forget your body—
a cadmium sphere
wedged between dust-caked panes.

The sinews of your shoulders
come undone.
Every passing hour pickpockets dreams,
smudging hues from the lacunae
of your harlequin wings.

One day you will awaken,
flight bones pulsing—
scale cells warm and aglow.