briefly

briefly

with impatient faith

i leave incense 

in your name, 

the ash lingering 

where it spilled--

peach fuzz 

darkening my knuckles.

ducked beneath

the crisp air, 

the opaque 

of preemptive mourning--

your blunt voice

i can imagine

briefly,

christening 

each of the clouds

in their slight forms. 

ivory, cumulonimbus

your shoulder blades

cutting, 

as saplings toothpicking 

the sky.

i squint up, 

those pillars of salt 

just waiting to dissolve.

cirrus, fleeting;

quietly, i remark

as the first drops fall. 

it looks like rain.