one in vermillion // lindsay mcleod
I've modified the memories and
dismantled the wants who once
beckoned with heavy eyelids and
loosened the vowels in my mouth.
I have tried to forget the damage
that brought my wrists unstitched
leaving time and again not nearly
enough petal to balance the thorn.
The stagger of recollection persists.
This is why, where once I was
caked in courage, I now straighten
the rearing horses from my hair.
Lindsay McLeod's poetry can be found online easily enough and appears most recently in AS IT OUGHT TO BE, BACKCHANNELS, and CACTI FUR. Lindsay lives by the Port in South Australia with his blue cattle dog, Mary.