swallowtail

paced precision
bangs need cutting
clothes too baggy
skin saggy
what do we measure?
when do we care    
enough
to braid that crimson thread
hitch a ride on a blackbird bed
pluck the feathers from pink solitude
unraveling the tempest
touching love's conquest
love's conquest?
ah!
AH
    more likely...
a draw
a tie
a coin balanced 
equanimity smoothed 

tucked
no triumph
no parade today
just
breath drawing
heart thawing
under the haze
and
heat
of this July sun