catching glimpses

if i could stand breathless

and look into my eyes

that hold generations

of knotted fingers

that twisting grey hankies

would wipe off old smudges

then i could know them

i could feel hearts stuttering

as bombs dropped and tore

life into ribbons

i could feel time stretched

thin across winters

where life breathed hot wisps

between legs and embraces

then i could know those inside my skin, my eyes

but silent and silvery

in the mirror’s reflections

i see tired eyes wanting

and bored air

and curtains

By NLMcD