Things That Died Today
october 15, 2020
BY MATTY JACKMAUH
Brain cells,
a few more morsels of self-control,
sinews of muscle atrophying in rest
[as a shark, treading before still].
-
My friend died in March;
Today again, too.
Well, last night,
but it lingers;
Another black cat fumbling
with the thread and needle
in the back of my mind.
I remember in bursts:
Burnt frames of unwound
clips and cuts
of a film strand,
scored in octaves
of laughter
and noise.
It had been a while
since I’d heard,
Though I figured
It wouldn’t be gone when it left
the first time.
His sound echoes
as a chorus in fermata,
balanced deftly on drawn breath,
the beat eminent
after rest.