for what it's worth

& glory & gold

(for an inhale, and an exhale.)

/ a cracked seam, a fissure of warmth
the light pours in like golden swaths.
bleeding across the empty canvas
of a sky, painting over the faint

/ glimpse of what used to be.
it is glory & gold embodied.
your hand outstretched, skin
pulled taut. our shadows meld
together, and we step into
the overlooking horizon.

after all this,
- could this be real?

/ in the shadows lie
trails of dust, of footsteps,
of blood.

gore & glory & gold.

imprints tattooed under
eyelids. the distant feeling of
flesh under fingernails.

after all,
- the shadows are as real as the light.

/ yet it's your hand in mine;
and warmth seeps into my
blue veins. it's the beginning.
it's the dawn of the end.

erase these remnants, I beg,
as my eyes train on the rising rays.

after all,
- the light is as real as the shadows.