Grief

There is a swirl

That starts small

A whirling darkness of

Nightmare blue 

Inside my insides

Deep in the marrow

Of my aching bones

There is a cramping

That winds its way

Bubbling from the center red

Of my gut

Stretching out claw tipped fingers

To scratch lines upon

My obsidian stone heart

The silhouette of a wasp 

Outlined against the crisp

White disk moon

In search of protein to

Tear off in chunks 

Fuel for the generations

Death is a benediction 

A balm upon my blistered, swollen

Flesh

The spasms of the farthest star

Pulling on me

Tugs also 

Upon the web weaving us all

Into our circle

A labyrinthine twining

Of your soul and his blood

With her tears and our muscle

A rippling scream 

That we are rent

One from the other

As surely as a tree limb is splintered

By the end of the arc of an 

Axe blade

Our fear kills us

Bleeding black skin, red skin, brown skin, white

And thick

Wet

Hot

Our blood 

seeps deep to the core