magician’s assistant
your mouth is a spiral of red ribbon. watch
this one, you say, holding out hands that become
white wings, a fragmented feathering. i’m
backstage and the curtains all have your voice,
velvet whispering against my skin. watch this
one. the ribbons become nooses. your birds
tangle in them, strangled in the unwinding
of you. i’m in the audience and someone shouts
fire into the crowd of eyes and no one turns
away from you. watch this one. i’m the bird
hanging from your throat. this house of dying
is on fire, the podium in flames. the curtains
cindering. you’re still onstage. an execution, a
hangman’s desire. the birds can’t fly, so they
fall to ash. watch this one. you’ve erased the line
between here and forever. there’s fire licking up
your arms, but you’re smiling. one last trick,
then you’ll go.
a.s.w. || find me on patreon
