in a year or ten

blushing ears, wind-slashed tears

sun squints, slowing years.

blasted lands, scorched dust,

voiceless looks, unraptured sands;

sold, golden, wintered hands.

yesterday resonates
grates its teeth across the walls
dances off with flighty sleep
while the fractured next few hours
fog the headlights and the laws.

same black fissures, repeat scars
marring pages, claying laws.

there's a breathing animal,

a fist inside my mouth,
lets the silence overgrow
and blind our open eyes;

I think a scream

would let it out,

but I still haven't tried.

walk until you reach the edge

and stop there, stop your crouch;

let the wind run round your face

let the wind run out

check your pace

check your eyes

the edge's look will pull you in,

make the fire come alive,
for a second's gasping dive

bluish eyes, desert dreams

miles I've seen, the miles I've been. 

the flat heaves up then drops for miles
it's tossed by every weakness known,
known in every hollow bone,
the ocean feels its bounds

these quick lifts current down
the faint lick of sullied frownings;

yet deep in this pure, colding pool

I still shelter hopes of drowning

the heartbeat of the coast is strong
and so is the sky's salt-flecked song

surge up, fall back
you keep running, I attack.

could you abandon all at once?

somehow I've known it well for months
I've loved the One who showed me how
but I've loved myself more.

my strong fear met this fragile trust
in this way which to live I must
I must lose hold of all my self;
yah I feared losing hold of my sweet self.

you live above the shifting blur
or you fall deep into the cure;
when you scorch your sense of fear
falling's a little easier.

Maybe playing with fire can never be enough;
So let all of my defeated ways be sharp with oil
And let me be the one to drop the torch.