The woods in the fireplace are glowing embers,
promise nothing but an ending. In a yard, a dog
barks to hear its loneliness. I tell it to stop, it hears
me, curls up and goes to sleep. I take a safety pin
thread its needle end through my ear lobe and
I do the same with the other ear.
The blood is white like water, painless and
impartial. I look in the mirror and see nothing
that looks like a pirate. No escape from boredom
and I remove the pins. The dog wakes from its
slumber, barks. My ears hear Nirvana’s echo
rippling on the shores of eternity.
