• Knotted inside,
    from years of neglect
    the fractured lines
    will break and fall.

    Laughter and cheer,
    a welcome distraction,
    failing what comes
    when night bears down.

    Now nothing more but
    an empty fissure,
    bottled up
    and left to dry.

    This swollen songbird,
    this warbling fool,
    forgets to eat
    and fades away.