the rubble of bark tanka sequence

the rubble of bark

he’s dead…

there I said it,

a reminder

of my own years

of eating dates

this is how it feels

to lose it on those days

when death

cruises for good food

and nice garments

my torn body

tears itself again—

night's

million shadows

grow taller

hour by hour

my bleeding lips

vanish,

my brain blackens

like the countryside