---

in a cask where I am constant

hidden article of hurt

like a hapless plane descending

like a flower without dirt

what will I be

if you return me

if the parched heart

stutters to motion

will your new tongue

clap in my head like a bell

a clamour of secrets

under gauze and under the rapids

under covers sick with attention

slowly sinking far

from the setting sun

and for no one

changeling -- I am caught in a blur

in only your view

my bleakest transition

powerful sleep

what a powerful sleep

this must be

come to me oh come to me

I feel you only

as something remembered

distant and ended and

pulled in my path through a fog

and

what would I be

if you return to me

freed of pigment

free of sensation

will you leave me

dreams of the cold cocoon

under skin and under construction

will I work with my hands

with a wonder

never certain

that you have left at all

but what does it matter

if I am distorted here

I have you to compose me

I have you to replace my fear