Silk stretched over velvet:
Smooth "How do ya do?"
Velvet over fur:
A soft, warm smile.
Fur laid over feathers:
An animal's grace.
Feathers covering ancient oak:
Back straight, head held high.
In hollow oak, nest of nettle leaves:
A tiny, unseen grimace.
Nestled in the nettle, three granite eggs:
Weights behind a pair of eyes.
The first, a hollow shell:
An emptiness inside;
The second, filled with ink:
A heart black and cold;
The third, acid bubbles within:
An acid that, sometimes,
Leaks through the egg,
Seeps across the nest,
Festers through oak like a hungry disease,
Out through feathers, fur, velvet, and silk--
And then, all alone,
In a dark, dark place,
Everything falls apart.
