A touch
The fire cackles with the crinkling wood
Veins tighten
The lifted smoke becomes a memory to never be caught
Eyes flutter
The warmth spreads to each cold heart
Silent Ink
The dim red shimmers on her papery skin

Somewhere a nascent identity descends upon her
And an empty mind is brought back to life

A tireless wait till dawn arrives
The sparrow caged with golden strings finds freedom in her ringing wings

For love is a distant emotion
A disguised and harrowing devotion
It is a story she could never write
The scars of which she couldn’t hide

For red is the holy river that flows on her head
The marks on her skin and the words he bared
Red is her soul beseeched from her
Red is the prayer that her calloused lips sing
Red is the phoenix  that never cried
Red is the darkness that never died