Words That Burn

Day Time Sequence/November, by Dalene Stowe (1946-)

The wind has no voice, really.

The obstacles have voices.

Going up hill

This crow time of year

The cartilage cracks,

The wind announces:

November is the month of cartilage.

Small bones

All over your body applaud.

 

But the wind has no voice, really.

It is the obstacles that have announced it.

Once in life

Something like November happens in the body:

The joints are exposed.

Twigs grinding in upon themselves

Produce the voices you thought were the breath.

 

The crow is blood, this time,

Covering your nakedness

with a harsh name.  Obstacles.

Like light jarring off a coin

Winter approaches your spinal column.

The small bones in your wrists and ankles

Are no longer intricate maps,

Ready to take you anywhere.