Unanswered: Poem and Illustration by Leo Hartshorn

count to ten

with each to chin

praying hide-and-seek

peek-a-boo!

where are you?

Durer hands broken

mutely spoken phrases

clipped wing gazes

from flaming emissary

guardian of mortal sanctuary

scratching from the roster

unrequited pater noster

correction fluid walls

blot out calls

and words ascending

rescinding invocation

of matin intercession

Orisin's blank face

fallen from grace

by pointed pleading

bleeding the Ghost

with no riposte

lying

dropped upon

the dying floor