dusk

"dusk

I never thought

I’d get another chance

I thought I never would

but out you came

tiny and perfect

exhuming archaic fears

along the beach front

of my pain.

I’d protected my empty place

so well

sand banked from every angle

even the most obtuse

with my hurt trapped

compressed and safe

under the strata of my existence

all incoming signals diverted

along established channels

with high security clearance —

but one look at you

and my defenses dissolve

like ice at the Dead Sea"