Red

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