g

following behind you
picking up feather
after feather

they are all stained wet red

you are staggering

down a boiling room corridor

the furnace is flushing the room with the sound of steam
almost loud enough

to drown the sound of you heaving,
the popping and curling in your throat

and the dripping from your skin

staining the feathers shed from your beat frame.

I speak too loud/get too close/think too hard:

and your head whips around

I see your teeth are grinding against each other
incessantly
your jaw cracks and cracks and

your face is all dark

except

your eyes are furious golden tunnels
ringing shrill burning shaking
me

I cannot move in their light stream

stuck

until you pull them out of me

and turn your taut veined neck back front

put your head back down

and go back to dragging yourself forward
back to leaking and dropping

and I can continue cleaning