charon

Start slow
eyelids heavy, unravel the carnival wire
of your late teens, the bone china
the bottomless nights, the dust on the abacus

the warehouse of apology you grew up in

tie them to the letterbox and
wait for winter to bite your bottom lip
kiss all your love notes this way

start slow, dream outwards
into the emptying street
cut the fingers from your mitts
touch the piano keys of every front fence

palm your heart
like the quartz in your breast pocket
like you might mistake it for door keys,
loose change, wedding bands

and when your every cell lights up
take the next breath deeper still
till your fears become the coins
you give the final ferryman.