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




No comments:

Post a Comment