Snow White the Child

There is a greyness over the city, the
Muffled air, the silence
Harrows and bleakness is a
Clammy arm of surrender and

No worth.  This is a horrible
Birth of self unto coldness and
The light of day. All, all is
Gone away and left long

Gone without me.  I am
Here alone, this place to thole
The race to walk from now on,
No running

And the breath coming slow. Where
Do I go to find the self, the
Purpose of a life of trying? Who
Can hand me now?   Are there

Rungs left to climb or have I
Reached the ladder top swaying
In a rough breeze?  I am
Unhanded and dying.  I am

Left lying on my own terrain
With terror for companion. This
Is antarctica of brain, the
Sawdust  winds of white scour

Easily here. I am flayed and
Lost.  I press my body
To the ground and count, count
The cost of all the steps

From there to here. I am
Barren ground, there is no hope, no
Feeling here for all is numb
And bleeding into white.

Snow white the child the
Wild witch won, she swooned
In poison and lost
Her golden crown, her sun.

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