Manonton Dalan (virginia, usa)

tossing petals
downwind
attracts wing hunters
thought of crums
from morning leftover

i keep to myself
words spoken
that you and me heard
rousing giggles beneath those palms
within unblinking eyes
of a raven

i loosen my laces
letting my shoes fall
feeling sharp stubs of grass
sending painful
stings to my brain

like those new manicured
fingernails
of yours
digging into my skin