the body

the smile iced across thin dead lips
but all i can see is one
jutting elbow, milk gallon white
under the full moon

embers shimmer heat but
the water is pins of cold
on my open toes
i feel the way with my eyes

smear of mud and tufted hair
that's my second sight,
curled awkward around
a jagged rock

a gift of the tide
as christmas fades,
marriages dissolve like
butter on hot toast
or ice in the fire.