Transfer of Power

Sleep ate silent
holes in day

after day. I let it. I fed it
the softest hours, hovered

over the toilet, shallow
retch, no relief. Heart

burnt by lanterns lowered
with the jewels of my mind.

Magician in reverse: impossible
billow of silk swallowed

by the sleeve. This feeling,
a revel, reeling

you onto life’s spool.
Nothing is pure. Wonder

is soft and woolen. Fear
has a pointed spindle.
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