​Fingerprint Failure
published in The Blue Nib Literary Magazine
poetry
​
I narrate each word
as if it will vanish
without a trace then steal my heart

from here or weight my will
with cares too heavy
for this path I tread.

If memory crowns a human’s venture
then loss of it fills
an angry grave and deepens darkness.
​
When I lapse my cupped hands trail
the Lethe
the sweet waters tempting me

with the drink of Unmindfulness.
When amnesia steals my recollection
I will lose love that might remain with remembrance.

Should Mnemosyne hear me cry
while under the power of reason still
like a woman mourning

sagging skin or fingerprint failure
I shun the forgetting of ills
the rest from sorrow

the elimination of my narration.
​Muses, have mercy
I own these tales.