I confuse feather and stone
collect ice
beads
keys
scratch silhouettes
with chalk in bloodless dust

sacred skin
severed breath
three-sided stories tied taut with string

the measure isn' t weight
or time
it's the sum of all the silences

small stones in the marrow of the nest
splinter in your hand

I use
sun
sextant
slanting light
to steer my way true south

and what is truth
except someone else's stories