25 February 2022

#25 - Dead Moll's Fingers

(Russell J Turner)

Xylaria longipes

‘...a 2008 study concluded that the species could improve wood for the purposes of making violins...’


Though none know when the music will begin

a quiet comes unbidden to the crowd,

the lighting fades beneath a breathless shroud

enveloping the hard white ghosts within.

She slides under that scarred and tattooed skin

which speaks of crimes we dare not name aloud,

she rises up in smoke ‒ reborn, unbowed ‒

as dead moll’s fingers pluck the violin.

Her pizzicato stories tell of thieves

who exercise control through misery,

a melody that separates then weaves

those tapestries of dumb complicity ‒

for we must all bear witness to our sin

when dead moll’s fingers pluck the violin.


RJT




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