Feel it moving
sliding through thoughts
too weak to hold it back
it is awake
Peel back the covering
of brittle ego
trephine my soul
the seat of the mind
to seek, to excise
Laid out in neat slices
a pattern’s shadow
only to find
so many pieces
missing
Those that are left
edges raw, misshapen
no longer fit
where they once did
Yet still, beneath
it moves
elusive as tainted memory
Trace a finger
over the blade of hope
suck the wound
penance is sharper
Why can it not be cut
from mind, from body?
It is so hard
so hard to continue
to forget
~ ~ ~
© W.R.R. 9/7/2000
As Ashes Scatter 