I shift
in skin
that no longer
stretches
to meet movements
not always malleable.
I twist
and turn
through thoughts
in a mind
not always compliant
with concerns of control.
I claw like the crow;
doused in darkness,
fusty feathers flapping
through air
I can’t clasp,
in a body
I can’t bandage,
through these
thoughts
I cannot suppress.
Weightless now,
I weigh less now,
I wait less now,
am patient less.
I shift and stir
and twist and turn
in a coffined canister
of contraction,
distraction,
as I claw
through the miles
and those fading smiles
like feathers falling,
black breath billowing
over a body
that cannot cradle comfort.

All words and photographs by Damien B. Donnelly

Audio version available on Soundcloud;