you   wake   the
morning     find
its     seeds     in
your         palm

now   you  must
scrape  the  dust
from  rivers   of
sinew
crowned     like
maples       held
fast to the   sky
                  still

its            seeds
remain  out  of
reach
you      scratch
pockets  of  fat
lined         gold
corvid       beak
finger   surging
rasping        on
muscle
marked    with
salmon     scale

still
the    gift      is
      untouched
so  you keep it
clench     your
fist around the
worm    trying
to   keep       it
                 still





Daniel J Flosi is an apparition living in a half acre coffin within the township of Rock Island, IL between the V of the Mississippi and Rock Rivers.