carnival of souls

and this carnival of souls

passes beneath the lights

rising

and falling

as they skate on such thin ice

a place of reflection

endlessly

spinning

a procession of

the dead

and the live 

 who shift shape

and

cling to the shadows

footsteps

dancing

to

a circle

of light

 

 

Emptied

picking through the remnants of a day
and opened suitcases
revealing
emptiness

I found a photograph of my sister
black and white and innocent
and mourned

I hold it close to me now

and a stitched sample
secreted within a cold, hard wooden chest
the traces of a passing younger hand

before the emptying

a tumbler roll as I replace the key in the safe
and pass from this still sad place

of a world

emptied

Empty