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Her hands

weighted steal
hanging
limp and pendulous.

She would swing them at
ghosts
watching the wraiths dissipate
in the passage of her arms.

Oft times
in bed
she could lay them on her breast
allowing the weight
to push her down
through the weave
of mothers
hand woven coverlet
into the cool sheets
and through to the sprung matress
beneath

The coils biting skin
hooking and holding
as she passed

Upon the worn floor boards
the ridged timber surface
scarred and creased
she would come to rest
under the bed
where ghosts
did not wander
or watch her

their pale accusations
their spectral fingers pointed
their screams of soundless blame

Her hands

butterflies
winging above her eyes
the soft rustle
a comfort
a calling


a sense of falling away

The floor boards
refused to support
any longer
and she hoped

the butterflies
could hold her.