Bigger the whiskey cask,
the barrels oak,
the tavern floor,
and door man soaked.
Guttered rain, the slanting roof,
as bottles pour
glass toasts
his chipped tooth.
The damn stool, where drunkard sat, the school house desk marked absent, his fathers hearth which hung his hat.
A ferry coin, an oar to row,
boat mans guide to under tow.
A hollow chest, in treasured folk,
his resting place, pine, not oak.
flush with the jagged edge
like the key budging rusted locks
events that leave remnants
haven’t happened with enough distance
still miss this
with your penny turning green
in the well wishes put to rest
slumbering fish blubbering snitch
thrown back, with the hook still hitched
free but marked
if my eye
could lay on the plane
where the pen lies
and the ink were to blink
while the lash marks
the face that holds our expression
evaluates stark
contrast dark
difference insistent that written persistance
is memory wishes in fade better instant
the faint as its listed
noted, dotted, and doting
rakes coals over blisters
chars tickling whispers
as ash and secrets
organize on the wind
and scatter again.
