Still the flesh insists:
thumbcap hard hat new little
pileup of cells proud flesh
mound uninflated
crimson blister singed
singing signaling pain
but also the event
of burning
that I cannot remember
When: fresh new enough last night?
How: dinner? What did
did I we oh
plates warmed over
no flame no great heat
How can flesh remember what the mind has lost?
One hand holds the other
thumb over thumb
tracing circles
and lines as though pacing
to bring it back
through the barrier splitting
wound from its shaping moment
shape from event
that particular now from becoming a
then
his easy morning whisper: Candle—
streams back last night’s power cut
the matchflame climbing
its short wooden route
dull wick to thumb. I
waited watched
as it lit at both ends
then water and water—