I drink the night in drops so black
Tar drips down my splintered cracks
Lips that beg but never bite
For mercy’s hand
For one clean night
It settles in
Digs its claws
Whispers rot where voices pause
Drowning quiet in heavy dusk
It fills my marrow
Turns to rust
Solid shadows
Splintered bone
I’m breathing still
But not my own
Smoke curls sharp like serpent’s teeth
Echoes writhe beneath my grief
The air collapses
The pulse caves in
My lungs become a coffin's skin
It hardens deep
Nails me shut
No door to break
No light to cut
Only night
Only stone
Only death while I live alone