t r a p p e d  in a ribcage

frail and fretting and fettered

hummingbird heart beats harder and harder

your skeleton fingertips tilling the ground

combing for the catacombs

of all your past lives

look what i have done for you

teeth marks to chart your growth

black red purple sky no stars no light no

for thine is the kingdom, the dead leaf diadem

battle-ready raccoon eyes, scored and scowling

if you do not run you will be left behind.