my ink spills fire and blood
on an unbridled manuscript
that witnessed all my quiet deaths
as paper sliced through my skin

my tainted hands still find you here
in strokes of sticks, humps, and tails
this night-long poem speaks of sad
for the bolter that got away

and the years passed
like thumbnail images on a fading filmstrip
the sparks and tears and could-have-beens
no longer hurt my current pen

the albatross—
turned weightless
the black dog—
no longer seen

Image: Unsplash

Day 17 of NaPoWriMo challenges us to write a poem that is inspired by a piece of music, and that shares its title with that piece of music. I wrote this one during the TTPD release week. Titles from its four bonus tracks are included.