common place blog

NOCTURNE FOR THE DYING
by Leilani Hall



We met as the blind do, disregarding
  sight, unfortunate first appearances
    as if one of us had been a sparrow
      without wings dragged in from play.

Do I need to revise this song
  without pity? Did pity come to us
    or walk with us, ride on our backs?
      Parasite we cannot discard.

You pulled your hind leg through darkness,
  body bare as my own (even hair forsakes the sick)
    and I lurched mid-traffic, soiled with the past. Cars
      coursed like blood about us, no hesitation at our presence



That woman that dog

and neither of us had the energy for anger or fear. That's why
  we made it this far. Like early cancer, as unassuming
    as headache or afternoon nosebleed, no one thought to remove
      us. And in the metastatic dark we clung to each other and grew.