lotus ophic

i.
startled awake
by a collapsing
above her sternum

pleasant noonlight's
certain lace
in instant scattered

skin that details
entire races
expiration
every hour

but this
new void
stabbed deeper,
she swore it
fractured and
stung like
death

ii.
losing breath,
for the first time
in eras
panicked

couldn't feel
the stars dying,
only airways grasping
for continuance

warm carpet
and blinds stripes
skewed, trying to settle

but this
new void
kept grabbing
her features,
the contort
of countenance and
twist of
nightgown

iii.
weeping,
she steadied her head
above the bathwater

submerged the burn
of eons
in as much heat as
skin can manage

but her abdomen
clenched, her
fastened jaw
winced
and the orris-scent candles
slow flickered,
unheeding

and this
new void
wrapped aether
in eager pace,
lapping up each
component
of space

iv.
startled awake
by the cold

windows open
in the chill
of midnight

more than numb,
if she wasn't herself
she'd expire

but this
new void
has a keeper