Phthartic

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Running through the woods

In the morning 

So early

The stars have yet to be chased off by the sun

Yet late enough

That the moon has hidden herself away

My head so turned

My eyes so strained at the heavens

My neck throbs with the anticipation of want 

The anticipation of a storm that has yet to rear its head

I catch a root

Twisting my ankle

My spine following suit

Is it twigs 

Or delicate shreds of life

Being snapped

Have I snapped?


Hands frantically claw the damp soil

Has the rain come and passed?

Electricity jolts through the roots of nerves

I'm shocked to feel the pain

How has this happened 

As it always has

Time and time again

Panic sets in


I stop

She has stopped

Only to see the trails of her past feet

Having passed this way before

Broken limbs

Lives

Scattered as the many stars in the sky

Doomed to this endless hunt


Where has this pain come from

I dig my claws deeper

As I drag her

We crawl across leaf litter

In the same ditch our feet have formed

As I'm not sure which way we are to traverse otherwise.

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