Haley Wooning
1. The Death of Pearls
I am reaching the end of something, sharp-
edged and like a shadow
a dark I have not seen before
last night, sleepless, turned- my own voice
was cold to me
with sacred, ritual language
the soundless rhythm of stolen wings
and nothing else returned
suddenly, the terror of saying nothing,
that whole
unbearable song
a fragmented, sliver of a life
dressed like the yellow ghoul of childhood
over the witcheries of water
the exhaustion of necessities
like the dragging of the soul behind
the chariot of nowhere
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Haley Wooning lives in California with her partner and cat, Puck.