lying languid on the pockmarked stone
bathing in balm, cell-devoid sunshine
pours down
arm trailing,
cocooned in languorous ecstasy.
fever-red beneath the membrane
wincing, I let it slip under;
white blindness.
the breeze toys with my hair
and the petal bursts nestled
in the branches overhead,
dancing pale in the sun;
heat bears down.
drunk and leaden,
the scatter-tremble fades
and in the red haze, it aches.
flighty shadows skirt
the cool edge.
They trace an ancient pattern
over bone and flesh.
the sweat stench mingles
with the scorch, days old soap
soft, sordid smell. gripping the can
I clench the rim between my teeth,
nursing discomfort, ravenous.