each tattered page of a picture book,
a symbol in fragments, disarticulated,
not unlike a Y-incision stormily ripped apart
from greying flesh, stitches raw and frayed.
embroidered cloths from heaven's weave
cast into Lethe's parched waters; payment:
a dying man's coin, imbursed by the living.
Charon's raft groans under its debtless weight,
such is the blood memory of his quarry,
the indelible massacre of hopes and dreams.
