and of your spirit
it happens slowly
not in inches or centimeters
not by any measurable standard
it doesn’t eat away at the outside edges
where it would be easy to spot
no, it starts in the middle and spreads out
replacing each morsel with black, crusted tar
so as not to change weight or circumference
to alert the alarms
so, you just carry on
going to the grocer, the gas station, your work
you sleep, you converse, you doodle and dream
but the doing—the doing of your dreams
is the fraction that fractures, piece by piece
until you’ve atrophied your desire
into oblivion
so…
be mindful of that, yeah?