Apparitions

(Inspired by Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion by Francis Bacon, 1944.)

They always appear,

With thin silver eyes &

Talons, they sit, monuments

To isolation, patient as death.

They always appear

When they are summoned,

We call them with our

depression, when we ask why? 
 When we say, no more, please.

They appear as they always do, to give us answers.

We swim with them

In their silver eyes and imagine

Death, so clear it is like

Holding onto silken, tackle memory.

A fabric woven from neural pathways.

Those rampant silkworms weave stories.

From synapse to synapse, over

under. The cloth forms.

They always appear, and

They always leave, only

When you tell them you

have seen enough. Only when

You want to live again.