Junco, pillar, scroll:
the shape of the ashes
before they crumble,
dust-thin, into the pail.

Cotton, sugar, soap:
what the snow looks like
before you touch it.

Dagger, danger, ghost:
what the moth whispers
before he leaves you.

Cinder, snow, moth:
what can’t be touched
without falling apart,
impossibly soft, gone,
the hand marked after.