by the second,
as it starts
with smallish codes
of internal rotation
and axis,

and losing
your hold on railings
or mugs, or dates and
proper nouns, filled
with the intent

to fade. Human-
ness hustles by
guesswork enterprise.
Take the mental
measure for resistance,
for instance,
for collapse hazard,
how we don’t

account early
enough for descent
or blunt force,
or the accident’s
scrunched-up
anatomy. On the cool
floor, you saturate
and spread
like a tea stain.

Recall would
pool to frame
those faces you’ve loved
and the glory all spent,
reels of voice
hemming together,
realms re-contemplated
in the flashbulb
before impact –

Then is a fallen Now.

You could feel
like a rumpled brown
bag with the pears
spilled out: a knot
that’s just now
liberating.